Emily Malcolm, PhD,  —

Emotional resilience is a term used to describe how people respond to changes and their ability to adapt to stressful situations. Being resilient doesn’t mean that people don’t experience or feel the stress but it refers to how quickly they can “bounce back” or adapt to crises. Resilience can…

Managing a rare disorder such as cold agglutinin disease (CAD) can be challenging. Because the disease is so rare, it can be difficult, especially in emergency situations, to get the treatment you need as many healthcare professionals may be unfamiliar with the disease. Developing a treatment plan and updating…

Finding out that you have a rare and chronic disorder such as cold agglutinin disease (CAD) can be isolating, and you may feel like no one else understands what you’re going through. It’s not uncommon for people affected by chronic illness to struggle with stress and depression. If…

Travel can be challenging for people with cold agglutinin disease (CAD) because cold can trigger the immune system’s attack on red blood cells. Following are some tips to help CAD patients travel safely. Before travel Planning ahead is crucial. CAD makes you sensitive to cold, so check the temperatures and…

Splenectomy, or the surgical removal of the spleen, can be an effective treatment for some types of hemolytic anemia and other blood disorders. However, its benefits are far less clear for cold agglutinin disease (CAD). What does the spleen do? The spleen is a spongy organ, about the…

Cold agglutinin disease (CAD) is a rare autoimmune disease in which the immune system develops antibodies against the body’s healthy red blood cells. These antibodies, called cold agglutinins, are activated in cold temperatures (below body temperature) and bind to red blood cells, causing their destruction. Why should CAD patients…

A bone marrow biopsy may be necessary to determine whether a person with cold agglutinin disease (CAD) — a rare disorder in which the immune system produces antibodies against the body’s red blood cells — has cancer. In CAD, the antibodies are triggered by drops in temperature to…

Many patients with cold agglutinin disease (CAD) experience fatigue and chronic joint pain. They may feel tired and rundown every day, which can make it hard to accomplish daily tasks. If you have CAD, it can be difficult to explain the situation to friends and family, who may…

Cold agglutinin disease (CAD) is a rare autoimmune disease in which the immune system produces antibodies against the body’s own red blood cells. In cold temperatures, these antibodies bind tightly to these cells, causing them to clump together. Secondary CAD — where the increase in cold agglutinin antibodies…

After being diagnosed with a chronic disease such as cold agglutinin disease (CAD), patients can often face some serious complications, including jaundice. What is jaundice? Jaundice is a condition in which the skin and the whites of the eyes turn yellow as a result of bilirubin buildup…