DEAR DR. GOTT: What would cause a 50-year-old man to have an elevated white blood count?

DEAR READER: A high white count represents an increase in leukocytes, the disease-fighting cells that circulate in the blood. The condition is known as leukocytosis and usually indicates an infection, immune system disorder, medication reaction, or bone marrow disease.

There are a number of causes to consider such as stress– either emotional or physical, a bacterial or viral infection, the habit of smoking, an allergy, rheumatoid arthritis, damage to skin tissue such as from a burn, and the use of some prescription drugs such as corticosteroids and epinephrine. Then we get in to conditions such as leukemia, tuberculosis, polycythemia vera and a whole host of other possibilities.
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