Some people with a diagnosis of cold agglutinin disease (CAD) secondary to another condition — when it’s then known as cold agglutinin syndrome, or CAS — may actually just have CAD. That’s the hypothesis set forth in a small study, involving eight people with “clinically well-characterised CAD or CAS,”…
Discussion
Whoosh! The heat and humidity hit me in the face every time I go outside. It’s July, and the weather conditions here in Auburn, Alabama, are more dynamic than in my other home in Papua, Indonesia — although the latter is 2.5 degrees below the equator. The combination of heat…
Discussion
I am feeling better by the week. I can’t always tell from one day to the next, but there seems to be a steady improvement in my energy. For the first time in about 14 months, I hosted a party at my house. I’ve also been weed-eating the Queen Anne’s…
Discussion
A stem cell transplant led to lasting remission of cold agglutinin disease (CAD) secondary to an aggressive lymphoma in a 48-year-old woman, according to a case report from Japan. This was only the second reported CAD case in which levels of disease-causing self-reactive antibodies completely normalized after a stem…
Discussion
“Schools out, schools out! Teacher let the fools out. No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers’ dirty looks!” I remember running home, singing that old rhyme, having finally escaped the drudgery of the elementary classroom. Three whole months stretched before me. Grabbing a book from my shelf, I…
Cold agglutinin disease (CAD) is a rare disorder in which the immune system mistakenly attacks red blood cells, resulting in anemia.
CAD is characterized by autoantibodies, called cold agglutinins, binding to and activating the destruction of red blood cells when exposed to cold temperatures.
Symptoms of CAD include fatigue, Raynaud’s syndrome, joint pain, jaundice or skin discoloration, and heart problems. These symptoms can worsen with more cold exposure.
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