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…
Discussion
Thursday was a good day for watching TV in the mid-1960s. I would rush through my homework and piano practice, and settle in from 7 to 9 p.m. to enjoy wonderful sitcoms. But little did I realize that on another network, on Sept. 8, 1966, a science fiction show called…
A 27-year-old man undergoing a blood stem cell transplant to treat a blood cancer developed complications after receiving cells from a donor with unidentified, temporary cold agglutinin disease (CAD), according to a U.S. case report. Blood stem cell transplant involves collecting blood cell precursors from a healthy donor and…
Discussion
Early Sunday morning on Jan. 18, I called 911 for my first-ever ambulance ride as a patient. I was in extreme pain in what seemed to be every joint in my body. On the way, I was diagnosed with a slight fever. And that was just the beginning. I was…
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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