Leukemia - Eosinophilic


Dr. Michael Wechsler, a Professor of Medicine from National Jewish Health in Denver, CO, shares his article appearing in the October 2021 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, where he explains recent discoveries about cells called eosinophils that play diverse roles in human health and disease. These cells are involved in combating some parasitic, bacterial, and viral infections and certain cancers, and have pathological roles in diseases including asthma, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders, and hypereosinophilic syndromes. Dr. Wechsler shares that treatment of eosinophilic diseases has traditionally been via nonspecific eosinophil attenuation using glucocorticoids and that several novel biologic therapies targeting eosinophil maturation factors such as interleukin (IL)-5 and the IL-5 receptor, or IL-4/IL-13, have recently been approved for clinical use. Available at: https://mayocl.in/3iFE24V


Chronic eosinophil diseases are types of blood disorders associated with abnormally high numbers of a rare white blood cell type called eosinophils. All healthy people have eosinophils circulating in the blood stream. Typically, there are very few in the blood, but when they’re made in excess by the bone marrow, they can cause harm by traveling to various organs in the body. These eosinophils are most dangerous to the heart as they can cause scarring and heart failure. The high eosinophilic count increases for months or years in hypereosinophilic syndromes. Other presentations of eosinophilic diseases include hypersensitivity and very severe allergic reactions. The only successful treatment for these conditions thus far is steroids, which require long term use to keep symptoms at bay, however, long term steroid use can have side effects such as diabetes, thinning of the bones, and central nervous system problems.
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