White Blood Cell Count (WBC)

Total count of infection-fighting white cells. Subtypes (neutrophils, lymphocytes) carry far more diagnostic weight.

Units

10³/µL

Reference (Male)

4.0 – 11.0 ×10³/µL

Reference (Female)

4.0 – 11.0 ×10³/µL

Aliases

Leukocytes

What it measures

Total count of infection-fighting white cells. Subtypes (neutrophils, lymphocytes) carry far more diagnostic weight.

What a high value can mean

Bacterial infection, inflammation, stress, steroid use, leukemia.

What a low value can mean

Viral infection, autoimmune disease, marrow suppression, chemotherapy.

Conditions it helps assess

Infection
Inflammation
Bone marrow status

Reading these numbers in context

Reference ranges describe the central 95 % of a healthy reference population — 5 % of perfectly healthy people fall outside any given range by definition. A single mildly abnormal value is rarely meaningful on its own. blood-test.life always interprets values together with related biomarkers before flagging.

Related biomarkers in Complete Blood Count (CBC)

Hemoglobin HGB Oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells. Low hemoglobin is the defining marker of anemia. Hematocrit HCT Percentage of blood volume occupied by red blood cells. Moves in parallel with hemoglobin. Platelets PLT Cell fragments responsible for blood clotting. Critical for bleeding-risk assessment. Mean Corpuscular Volume MCV Average size of red blood cells. Categorizes anemia as microcytic, normocytic, or macrocytic.