High white blood cell count is called leukocytosis. High white blood cell count is often due to a healthy process, such as immune defense or inflammatory response after an injury.
Reasons for leukocytosis:
- Infection response, especially bacterial infection
- Inflammation
- Physical stress and tissue death
- Allergic disease
- Proliferative diseases of white blood cells, such as leukemias
Conditions that cause tissue death and elevate white blood cells:
- Physical trauma
- Surgery
- Ischemia
- Heart attack
- Burns
Allergic conditions that elevate white blood cells:
- Allergic reaction, acute or chronic
- Anaphylaxis
- Asthma
- Atopic disease
Inflammatory conditions that cause elevation of white blood cells:
- Autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis
- Inflammatory bowel diseases
Medications that trigger excessive production of white blood cells:
- Corticosteroids
- Beta agonists