White blood cells count as a risk factor to DCS

[SunkenHead]

I recently came upon an article (Cialoni et al, "White Blood Cells, Platelets, Red Blood Cells and Gas Bubbles in SCUBA Diving: Is there a Relationship?"), actually a new article, as it came out this year, which studies, as the name indicates, the possible relationship between blood cells and bubble formation in the blood. The results were interesting. Broadly put, the subjects with high white blood cell count also had a small bubble formation count.

This test was not statistically relevant, as they put it themselves, but nevertheless it opens a door of new studies.

Now, if the relation was found and cuantified, how in your opinion could this benefit the recreational scuba world? I want to think personalized dive tables could be made, allowing for high WBCC (white blood cell count) some extra time without the excessive conservationism of the current ones, and for the not high WBCC a safer table, proper to their physical limits.

I can also imagine the scenario where this could lead to eugenics and more elitism in diving, so we have many possibilities, if this study turns out to be correct.

Cheers!

Sebastian.

 

[Esprise Me]

Interesting. I take it this is it? (PDF) White Blood Cells, Platelets, Red Blood Cells and Gas Bubbles in SCUBA Diving: Is There a Relationship?

I would think it would be more likely that recommendations would change to become more conservative for those with low white blood cells than to become more liberal for those with high counts. Maybe this will ultimately explain some "undeserved" hits.

 

[SunkenHead]

Interesting. I take it this is it? (PDF) White Blood Cells, Platelets, Red Blood Cells and Gas Bubbles in SCUBA Diving: Is There a Relationship?

I would think it would be more likely that recommendations would change to become more conservative for those with low white blood cells than to become more liberal for those with high counts. Maybe this will ultimately explain some "undeserved" hits.

Yes it is. I didn't know if it was open information, since someone showed it to me directly, thanks for linking it.

About your opinion, I hope it won't get to that. The idea of personalized decompression algorithms is too beautiful and exciting, but the agencies are what they are...

 

[Gene]

Can less red blood cells be an indication of something going on with your heart, and/or lungs? Like a low ejection fraction number...?

 

[dmaziuk]

Can less red blood cells be an indication of something going on with your heart, and/or lungs? Like a low ejection fraction number...?

Or that you're a trained endurance athlete?

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Though it's an interesting finding, I don't know that there would be any practical application. There is individual variability in white blood cell counts, and I don't imagine that anyone's going to be undergoing procedures to increase white count before diving, as there are negative effects of leukocytosis (high white cell count) as well. From a practical standpoint, there are reasons why someone with a low white cell count should carefully consider decisions to dive, as they could be at increased risk from marine pathogens. A high white cell count could indicate infection or a malignancy, so there are diving decisions to be made around that as well.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[hilljo88]

And we need to be careful in making generalizations from studies based on limited data points. Note that this paper references results of 32 divers who make a single, 7 minute dive, to 42 meters depth.