Q: My father is a heart patient (heart performance is 25-30%) since 2 years. A heart specialist has suggested medicines like Cardace 5mg, Clopilet A (Aspirin) 75mg, Cardivas 3.125. Other than this, he is taking medicines to control his diabetes too. Last week when he went for a complete blood test, he found that everything was normal except WBC count. His WBC count is around 30,000 but there are no symptoms, and he is doing well. I heard Asprin drugs will increase WBC count. Can you suggest what to do? Are there any medicines to decrease the WBC count? Can he continue Clopilet A tablet what he is taking currently.

A:Aspirin per se does not affect the total leukocyte count (TLC), though it affects the platelet function. He would require a complete blood count (including red cell indices), a differential leukocyte count (DLC) and a peripheral blood film (PBF) examination to know the cause of leukocytosis. The possibility of chronic myeloid leukaemia and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia need to be ruled out, which a PBF examination would do.