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T and B Cell Screen

Mya Symons

Mya Symons
Messages
1,029
Location
Washington
Does anyone know where to get this test without having to go through an uncooperative doctor, such as online. Also, does it go by any other names then the ones mentioned below. There are some online lab testing sites that will order blood test for a person, but I am having a difficult time finding the right name. Any ideas? Please and thank you.

Here is some information I found online:

A B and T cell screen is a laboratory test to determine the amount of T and B cells (lymphocytes) in the blood.


Names the test may go by: Direct immunofluorescence; E-rosetting; T and B lymphocyte assays; B and T lymphocyte assays

After the blood is drawn it goes through a two-step process. First, the lymphocytes are separated from other blood parts. Once the cells are separated, identifiers are added to distinguish between T and B cells. The E-rosetting test identifies T cells and direct immunofluorescence is used to identify B cells.


Tell your health care provider if you have had any of the following, which might affect your T and B cell count:
Chemotherapy
HIV
Radiation therapy
Recent or current infection
Steroid therapy
Stress
Surgery


Your doctor may order this test if you have signs of certain diseases that weaken the immune system. It may also be used to distinguish between cancerous and noncancerous disease, especially cancers that involve the blood and bone marrow.
The test may also be used to determine how well treatment for certain conditions is working.


Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Some labs use different measurements or test different samples. Talk to your doctor about the meaning of your specific test results.


Abnormal T and B cell counts suggest a possible disease. Further testing is needed to confirm a diagnosis.

An increased T cell count may be due to:
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Infectious mononucleosis
Multiple myeloma
Syphilis
Toxoplasmosis
Tuberculosis

An increased B cell count may be due to:
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
DiGeorge syndrome
Multiple myeloma
Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia

A decreased T cell count may be due to:
Congenital T-cell deficiency disease
o Nezelof syndrome
o DiGeorge syndrome
o Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome
Acquired T-cell deficiency states
o HIV infection
o HTLV-1 infection
B cell proliferative disorders
o Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
o Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia

A decreased B cell count may be due to:
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Congenital immunoglobulin deficiency disorders
Acquired immunoglobulin deficiency disorders


I hope that is better. I took out some things that didn't seem relevant.
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
Can you edit this and break it up a little, very hard to read.

GG

PS Thanks for considering my request.
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
Thanks, much easier to read now. Hopefully someone can help you out, not something i am familar with.

GG
 
Messages
51
Location
Newark, NJ
Mya,

Most labs will do this type of test, but usually require a doctor's request; one way you might be able to get around this is to find a physician's associate (PA), since those people are able to issue the lab test request, and are more likely to be less difficult than a typical doctor. The uncooperative doctor that you mentioned, was that a general practitioner or a Infectious Disease specialist? Usually the latter is more open to testing, I had over six thousand dollars in testing done over a five month span that way, including the T-cell count test that you mentioned. The latter is a routine test for HIV patients (usually run every few months), since it monitors the effectiveness of HIV drugs in keeping T-cell counts up (recall than when T-cell counts go below 200, the patient officially is diagnosed with AIDS). For HTLV sufferers, the T-cell count can be misleading because HTLV causes overproduction of T-cells, which leads to T-cell leukemia. So, the doctor will say "look, you have a fantastic number of T-cells, you're healthy as a horse" (actual quote), when in fact some of those T-cells could be "dummies" (these defective cells are called clonal, meaning they're just copies of your T-cells, but are useless). To go deeper, a different test would have to be performed to detect if a "clonal" population exists in your T-cells, which could be triggered by HTLV infection.

Best wishes.
 
Messages
51
Location
Newark, NJ
A guy with HTLV in Italy is pursuing hyperthermia (heating the body to 108 degrees F for three hours) as treatment for him & his wife & daughter - he had gotten a fever after a urinary tract infection and noticed that his symptoms lessened for a year! A published paper by a Japanese doctor named Hatanaka alleges that hyperthermia can treat or even cure HTLV. Something for all of you to think about if you're looking for a possible way to alleviate your symptoms.
 

ukxmrv

Senior Member
Messages
4,413
Location
London
Tony, some ME and CFS patients have been using various types of saunas to try and heat their bodies with varying degress of sucess and failure.

In my own case heating my body (even in a hot bath) leads to fainting and increased heart/POTs problems. I stopped sweating over 10 years ago. I have a consistant low body temp.

Cold baths and cold water on the other hand leave me feeling and functioning better.

The saunas people are trying are to help sweat out metals or pathogens. I don't understand why some patients can tolerate them and not others. Heard for example of patients beginning to sweat again after repeated ifrared saunas. I just kept going downhill and it took about 6 months to recover when I tried a series.
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
Tony, some ME and CFS patients have been using various types of saunas to try and heat their bodies with varying degress of sucess and failure.

In my own case heating my body (even in a hot bath) leads to fainting and increased heart/POTs problems. I stopped sweating over 10 years ago. I have a consistant low body temp.

Cold baths and cold water on the other hand leave me feeling and functioning better.

The saunas people are trying are to help sweat out metals or pathogens. I don't understand why some patients can tolerate them and not others. Heard for example of patients beginning to sweat again after repeated ifrared saunas. I just kept going downhill and it took about 6 months to recover when I tried a series.

Hi ukxmrv,

It is my understanding (and also experience) that FIR saunas don't work entirely through the "heating the body" aspect. I get good results using mine even at fairly low temperatures that don't heat me up to any degree. I think there are other aspects to FIR that are helpful other than heat.

My FIR has many heat choices and I never let myself feel overheated. I usually turn it down several times in the course of a session...but I still get great benefits.

Sushi