My Husband Is 67, Is A Bit Overweight And A

Posted on Fri, 13 Sep 2019

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 13 Sep 2019 Answered on

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Question : My husband is 67, is a bit overweight and a heavy smoker. He has been complaining of severe pain in the lower right rib area, radiating around to the back. His Dr. called this am, and his blood work showed high sugar, and elevated white and red blood cells. Wants him to come back in a month for a re-check. Should I be alarmed?

Answered by Dr. Olgeta Xhufka (-4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Cholecystitis and diabetes possible

Detailed Answer:
Hello dear, welcome to Ask a doctor service.
I read your query and here is my advice.

I think the elevated white blood cells can show inflammation or infection and the pain in lower right rib area may be related to gallbladder infection called cholecystitis.
He needs to do an abdominal ultrasound to check gallbladder and other abdominal organs.
The elevated glucose levels may show diabetes and he needs to do fasting glucose levels, post prandial glucose levels and HbA1c to check it.
If possible you can upload the photo of the examinations on reports for me in order to give a more accurate opinion.

Hope I have answered the question.
Let me know if I can assist you further.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T