Georgiagirl,
I'm wondering why your doctor did a CD56 instead of a CD57? A low CD56 is usually seen in Chronic Fatigue Patients but you can also have CFS if you have Lyme Disease. Ask your doctor to do an NK Striker Panel CD57. Your CD57 is usually low in Lyme patients.
I'm not sure why your doctor said that the cells could not be replaced because from what I'm understanding, this is your immune system, so yes, you can boost your immune system with Vitamin C or supplements like that. Getting treated for Lyme Disease usually brings those numbers up too.
Here is some great information that explains it all. You may want to
open the link and read the rest of the information as well. I like how this site explains everything.
The percentage of CD56+ NK cells is
often measured in patients with
chronic diseases as a marker of
immune status: the lower the
CD56 level, the weaker the
immune system. You may have
heard Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
patients talk about their CD56
counts.
A smaller population of
NK cells are CD57+. A below normal
count has been associated
with chronic Lyme disease by the
work of Drs. Raphael Stricker and
Edward Winger.
No one knows
for sure why CD57+ NK cells are
low in Lyme disease patients, but
it is important to note that many
disease states that are often confused
with chronic Lyme (MS,
systemic lupus, rheumatoid arthritis)
are not associated with low
CD57+ NK counts.
The good
news is that for most Lyme
patients the CD57+ NK level
increases as treatment progresses
and health is regained.
CD57 markers can also be
expressed on other kinds of cells,
including T-cells, so it is important
to distinguish between
CD57+ T-cells and CD57+ NK
cells.
The standard normal range for the
absolute CD57 NK count is 60 to
360 cells per microliter of blood.
This wide range was established
based upon test results of hundreds
of healthy patients. By
these laboratory standards, a test
result below 60 cells per microliter
would be considered below
normal and therefore associated
with chronic Lyme disease.sci.tech-archive.net/Archive/sci.med.diseases.lyme/2007-04/msg00280.html