Total Count of White Blood Cells in Adult Male Smokers

Abstract

The present study was carried out to observe the changes in total count in WBC in cigarette smokers. The study population consisted of 105 adult male smokers and non-smokers, aged 20~40 years, from different socio-economic classes. Among them, 30 apparently healthy non-smokers were taken as control. 75 apparently healthy smokers, who had the history of smoking of one or more cigarette per day, regularly for at least last one year, were taken as the study group. Smokers were again subdivided into three categories according to the number of cigarettes they consumed per day. For statistical analysis unpaired ‘t' test was used for comparison. Mean ± SD of Total count of WBC in non smokers and smokers were 7501.66 ± 929.4 /mm³ and 9171.3 ± 1037.7/mm³ respectively. Smokers had significantly (P<0.001) higher WBC counts than non-smokers. In addition, WBC count was found increased with intensity of smoking. The smokers who were smoking e 20 cigarettes per day had the higher total WBC count than those who were smoking lesser. The findings of the present study suggest that cigarette smoking may cause increased the total count of WBC, which may predict high risk for some fatal diseases.

Key words: Cigarette Smoking; White Blood Cell; Adult Male

DOI:10.3329/jbsp.v2i0.985

J Bangladesh Soc Physiol. 2007 Dec;(2): 49-53