That's a good question. I can imagine that there was a time before there was life on Earth, and then clearly there was a time X-hundred thousand years or a million years later when there were things that we would all recognize as biological.
A high count indicates the presence of inflammation in the body. Because white blood cells are calculated by the number of cells per volume of blood, test results can vary between labs. Different labs use different degrees of measurements for the white blood cell count.
Physicians may want to look closer at WBC levels when obtaining the tests for other reasons, Manson notes. However, infections can cause a high white blood cell count that may make it appear that a patient is at high risk for heart disease when she is not. Therefore, routinely giving everyone the test to screen for heart disease is premature. More research needs to be done..