White blood cell question.?

Question

I was in an arguement with a fellow platoon mate today discussing some rare condition he was born with. He called it Cyto lympomilia or something like that, not very important. Now here is my question:
He claims he was born with NO white blood cells and did not develope any until he was 4 years old. Is this even possible? Is it a really disease?

Answer 1

Stranger things have certainly happened.

The most famous case of a person born without an immune system was that of David Vetter, who came to be known in pop culture as the 'boy in the bubble' (link 1). Because he did not have any white blood cells, he had to be kept in a special sterile environment and never had human contact. He eventually died at the age of 13 after a failed bone marrow transplant.

Now, it's POSSIBLE that your friend had a similar condition but was fully cured with a bone marrow transplant. That happens. The name you give sounds a lot like 'cyto lymphoma' which is a type of cancer that would interfere with your immune system... but that's not something people are normally born with either (though teens get it sometimes, so it's not inconcievable).

If your friend DID have no white blood cells, then he would have had to been in a similar kind of bubble environment, so that's at least a way you can tell if he's pulling your leg or not.

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

if he is talking leukocytes...it is possible to be born without them considering you dont really develop an immune system untill your about a year or so old (you receive immunities from mothers milk///embryonically). now white blood cells is kind of a blanketing term leukocytes would be better to say because these are the cells that differentiate into the cells of the immune system...these are made by hematopoietic stem cells (precursor to pretty much all immune//blood cells) i have no idea what disease you are talking about (spelling must be off) but it is possible that he could live with a depressed immune system until he was 4(all sorts of immuno therapies available for people with depressed immmune systems)...now if this occured and he suddenly had the ability to create leukocytes at 4 years old seems.improabable...once again without knowing the conditions name we cant really tell you. (if he had a form of lymphoma (cancer in the lymph system) his T-cells or B-cells could have been effected (depending on what type of cancer) which are considered under the white blood cell category...

Answer 3

I will admit that i have never heard of cytolympomilia but there was no way you friend could have survived without any white blood cells. Unless he is talking about a subset of white blood cells he should be in medical text books for this feat!
Remember that white blood cells refer to B, T, NK, monocytes/macrophages, eosinophils, basophils, and neutrophils. Even that bubble boy had some white blood cells! The bubble boy case such as the one wikipedia suffer from primary immunodeficiencies such as SCID (severe combined immunodeficiency) Even the most severe SCID only lacks 3 white blood cells: B, T, and NK cells.
To say that one had zero white blood cells and survived the challenges of early age is incredible unless I see evidence.

Answer 4

It's impossible for a human to survive without white blood cell. The white blood cells are just like the soldiers defending our body. Can a under 4 years old child live without white blood cell to defend their body against diseases? It seems it is out of logical thinking.
But there's always exception in the field of biology. Perhaps there's another type of cell that work as white blood cell to defend his body.

Answer 5

Not very likely he would survive 4 years without them.

Answer 6

he is just making you fool.
infants are more sensitive towards diseases.
he would have died within two years or less time if it really happened.
mothers pass immunity to baby while infant is inside only.

Answer 7

srry im no scientist