“Hey, Mary! The last home game is on Wednesday. Wanna go with us?” My Auburn Tigers were playing in the third game of the recent National Invitation Tournament. Yes, I would love to go. I looked at the time the game started. “No,” I shook my head sadly. Tip-off was…
A woman in her 50s battling advanced breast cancer developed a rare blood disorder called cold agglutinin disease (CAD) as a direct complication of her chemotherapy treatment. According to a recent case study, the woman’s immune system began attacking her own red blood cells after she received paclitaxel. While…
Discussion
Note: This column describes the author’s own experiences with rituximab. Not everyone will have the same response to treatment. Consult your doctor before starting or stopping a therapy. The first house I remember living in was rather small — small enough that Dad could sit in the hallway and read…
Discussion
Attending elementary school from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, was just the basis of my education. At age 5, I began doing needlepoint and other forms of needlework. Among these was lace-making in the form of tatting. I was not very good at it, nor at…
A woman in her 50s developed cold agglutinin disease (CAD) and kidney injury as rare complications of a bacterial lung infection caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae), according to a case report. Although these infections can trigger the production of cold agglutinins, the self-reactive antibodies that cause CAD, in up…
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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