Eosinophilic Disorders and their Treatment

The Eosinophilic disorders are one of the major hematological diseases, which deal with the white blood cells in the human body. The Eosinophils or the white blood cells play an important role in the human body while responding to asthma, allergic reactions, and infections that are caused due to parasites. Eosinophils not only play an important role in protective immunity against parasites but also contribute a lot to inflammation which occurs during allergic disorders.

Different disorders of the Eosinophils

1. Low count of eosinophils
2. High count of eosinophils
3. Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome
4. Disorders and their treatments

Low count of eosinophils
A low count of eosinophils in the blood usually occurs with the sepsis or the infections in the blood stream, cushing syndrome. They are usually treated with the corticosteroids. The treatment of the lower count of eosinophils is able to restore the normal count of the eosinophils.

High count of eosinophils
The condition of the high count of the eosinophils is known as eosinophilia or hypereosinophilia. Some of the most common causes which increase the count of the eosinophils are

1. Disorders due to allergies including asthma, atopic dermatitis, eczema and allergic rhinitis.
2. Infections caused by parasites, mainly the ones those are known to invade the tissues.
3. Some of the cancers cause eosinophilia like leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, and myeloproliferative disorders.

Symptoms of eosinophilia

When the count of the eosinophils increases considerably, it can not only inflame the tissues but can also cause damage to the organs. The organs that are usually affected due to this are the heart, skin, lungs and the nervous system. People may suffer from skin rashes, shortness of breath or wheezing and fatigue. One can also suffer from throat as well as stomach pain if the stomach or the esophagus gets affected.
It is generally treated with antibiotics even if no infection is detected. Doctors usually treat such conditions with the oral corticosteroids.

Idiopathic Hypereosinophilic Syndrome
In this disorder, the eosinophil count increases to more than 1500 cells/microliter of blood. It is common in the ones who have crossed 50 and usually suffers from a condition of the heart known as Loffler endocarditis which leads to heart attacks.

Symptoms

1. Weight loss
2. Night sweats
3. Chest pain
4. Fevers
5. Weakness
6. Stomach ache and sometimes coma

Most of the people need to treat this with the drugs of prednisone, hydroxyurea and sometimes chemotherapy drugs. Eosinophilic disorders should always be treated according to the drugs prescribed by the doctors. If you wish to discuss any specific problem, you can consult a hematologist.