There is evidence that high levels of white blood cells can be a tip-off for heart disease in older people, a finding that could help identify those not otherwise believed at risk, a study said on Monday. The reason is that white blood cell counts can indicate the presence or absence of inflammation, which is being linked increasingly to a role in the thickening and hardening of the arteries, the report from the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis said. In a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the researchers found that in old women who were followed for a number of years, there was a much higher incidence of heart attack and stroke in those who had the highest white blood cell counts at the start of the study. Similar findings have been made in men, and suggest that white blood cells can help predict heart-related problems, the study concluded. "In summary, we have demonstrated that a white blood cell count in the (highest category) is independently associated with cardiovascular events and death in older women after adjustment for traditional risk factors," such as smoking, weight, diabetes and level of physical activity, it said. --More 2356 Local Time 2056 GMT
