ESR could have gone up due to urine infection

Q1I

am a 38- year- old male weighing 62 kg. My blood report showed ESR: 110, haemoglobin ( Hb): 9.90, WBC: 9.90 and RBC: 3.20. I was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection ( UTI) last month ( pus cell were 7080/ hpf) and was prescribed high- dosage of antibiotics. What is the reason behind my high ESR? I also suffer from low- grade fever at night and fatigue. — Anup

Ans: High ESR is a marker of infection or inflammation in the body. It should normally be below 20 mm in the first hour. In your case, the ESR could have gone up due to urine infection but should have come down substantially after intake of appropriate antibiotics as per urine culture. High ESR could mean an ongoing UTI or any other infection which may be causing this to stay persistently high. Consult a physician and get evaluated including the cause of your anemia and also low grade fever. Get a fresh urine culture, chest x- ray- pa, ultra sonography of abdomen, mantoux test etc as per the advice of your physician. — Dr M. Govardhan Sr Consultant Internal Medicine

Q2I

am a 28 years old female. I had a lump in my right breast that was noticed during my first pregnancy about two and a half years back, but it disappeared after breast feeding. The lump recurred last year. There are no other lesions in the other parts of both the breasts. Am I at a risk of breast cancer?

Ans: The description of this breast lump suggests a non- cancerous problem. Serial evaluation with a breast ultrasound after three months and yearly thereafter will confirm this. — Dr Srinivas Juluri Sr Consultant Surgical Oncologist