Can someone explain these to me

[Anjel]

So I have been seeing these two conditions in a few of our sickest pts we transport regularly...

Hyperlipidemia and luekocytosis

I have a basic understand of the two from what I googled.

I guess im wondering if these two conditions have anything certain I need to watch for or monitor when transporting.

Or is this just a coincidence that the sicker people have these?

Is it important for me to take these two things into consideration when assessing my pt?

Thanks guys...

 

[usalsfyre]

Hyperlipidemia

Probably 3/4s of the adult population of the US has this to some degree.

and luekocytosis

Think about the immune system and inflammatory response. What would you expect the white blood cell count to do in acutely ill patients? (There are some caveats here...)

The first one is a definite yes. Why don't you tell us on the second one.

 

[Anjel]

Well from what I understand about the second one is there is an increase in wbc that arent working right.

So these people that get a minor illness can easily get a lot worse without the wbc's to fight it off.

is that kind of the jist of it?

 

[usalsfyre]

Leukocytosis is simply an increased WBC count, it doesn't describe function. In most bacterial infections (the majority of septic patients) you expect to see an increased white count as part of inflammatory response. Hence, your really sick people have leukocytosis because they're really sick, not because leukocytosis is making them sick.

 

[Anjel]

Ohhh ok. So it just kinda comes with whatever is making them sick.

Got it. Thank you