Hi everybody. I'm just trying to find some information. My husband was just told at a regular health check that he has "few" epithelial cells. They weren't that concerned and didn't give any more detail. But we have nooo idea what this means, and if we should worry.

My husband has really bad skin, always broken out all over and gets strange scars easily as well as white patches. He's been told it's a bad immune system or too much "body heat" but I don't believe that. Plan to take him to a better doc as soon as we can. Just wanting to educate ourself a bit!

Thanks so much,
Jenny

Tissue in general is made up of epithelial cells...the surface of the skin is heavily made up of them (for protective purposes) and the fewer there are, the thinner the skin is. Example...the heels of your feet typically have a heavy concentration of epithelial cells, therefore, they are pretty thick. Sounds like your husband has thin skin due to fewer of the cells and could be prone to more skin related problems. By default, it would be wise for him to avoid prolonged sun exposure because the thinner the skin, the more apt for bad burns.

Ultimately, I'm not sure what it really means...but if they were not overly concerned, it doesn't appear that it would be a huge problem, but I'd suggest a visit to a dermatologist, they'd offer the best information and advice...

You might find this general article about the Function of the Skin to be a useful read.

~Lydia

Hi Jenny, and welcome to AnswerPool!

As Lydia said, epithelial cells are those that make up the protective layer of our skin, as it were. Having few of these can simply mean your husband has very sensitive skin.

However, if it were me, I would want to know why he has so few, and if this is a recent occurance or if he has always been this way.

Now, I did a quick search and what I read suggests that this can occur from a lack of certain nutrients. It did not, unfortunately, say which nutrients or how they are lost, nor did it say what the physical symptoms would be.

I agree that a visit to a dermatologist is definitely in order. Better to verify it is nothing than wait, and find out it was something.

Good luck!

After reading Mommy's reply, I was curious about the vitamin deficiency...so I searched too - the only relativity to vitamins I could find was B12...again, no specifics.

While searching, I did find something that might be interesting to learn more. Even reading this though, there is SO much more to know about the "low count" that they mentioned - - the cells are all throughout your body and based on where they are, it tells you alot more...definitely seek further information!

Epithelial

Jenny, this sounds like a quack diagnosis. As pointed out by others, epithelium is a very general tissue type and is found throughout the body: in skin, the lining of the entire digestive tract, and in many organs and glands of the body.

Is it possible your husband misheard or misunderstood the diagnosis? Did he see a "real" doctor (M.D. or D.O., or the Chinese equivalent) or was it a practitioner of "alternative medicine," such as a chiropractor, homeopath, or acupuncturist? If an M.D., he should ask for a better explanation. Otherwise think about seeing somebody else. Soon.

"Low epithelium" is not a recognized disease.

Thanks SOO much for the replies. I know nobody here can diagnose, but just want to be a bit educated before going to a doc. I should explain - he was getting a medical exam in Beijing for an immigrant visa to the US. Since what they were looking for was fine, they didn't explain this one. He just happened to notice and write it down (was written in English). It's a top hospital, staffed by Western-trained and Westerners, but still I think "few" did mean "low count". But not even sure what test would make this diagnosis.

The previous docs he's gone to about his skin were I suppose M.D.'s but in China they all still have some strange ideas. "shen huo", which hubby translates as "too much fire inside" seems to be the cause of most problems here! Perhaps there is something to that in that diet could be connected, but still avoiding spicy, oily, sour foods doesn't do much.

We didn't know til we looked it up later that epithelial cells are all over. What scared me was something I read that said they are connected to most forms of cancer. I do hope it's nothing serious and we'll try to see a good doc before we leave China since I don't know when he will have insurance in the US. That's interesting about nutrients and I hope something like that can solve his skin probs, whether epithelial related or not!

Thanks again - y'all are great and I'm glad I found this site.

Jenny

P.S. Mommytimestwo - I'm about to be mommy to two myself - expecting twin boys in July!