Cold agglutinin disease (CAD) is an interesting and rare disease. Approximately 1 in every 300,000 people may get cold agglutinin disease. This is an autoimmune disease. That means that the body’s immune system mistakenly turns on itself. It diagnoses the red blood cells in the body as a threat, and the immune system then attacks them. This causes a type of anemia due to the lack of red blood cells in the body.
The biggest factor to this autoimmune disease is how flare ups occur. People who have their body exposed to cold temperatures end up with a flare up. Some people think that these attacks are more like cold agglutinin allergies, and they are allergic to cold temperatures. Since it’s a rare disease, recognizing the symptoms can be tricky. Gaining knowledge about it will allow for early diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
Causes of Cold Agglutinin Disease
The primary form of cold agglutinin disease doesn’t have a cause. People get it without any reason behind it. However, there is a secondary situation where cold agglutinin can be caused by another condition. This secondary form of the disease can be caused by a lot of different diseases and conditions. Some of the potential causes include:
- Viral Infections - This includes things like HIV, Flu, Rubella, Mumps and Epstein-Barr virus.
- Parasitic Infections - Malaria is a common parasite, but trypanosomiasis is also potentially involved.
- Autoimmune Diseases - While CAD is an autoimmune disease, it can be brought on by other ones like systemic lupus erythematosus.
- Bacterial Infections - There are plenty of these which can act as a cause. Mycoplasma, syphilis, listeriosis and E. Coli are all common causes.
- Cancers - Several types of cancers can be involved. Kaposi sarcoma, lymphoma and CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia) have all acted as causes for secondary CAD.
Of all of these, the most common secondary cause is lymphoma. This cancer of the lymph nodes seems to match up well with cold agglutinin disease and the anemia it causes.
Symptoms of Cold Agglutinin Disease
There are a variety of symptoms that people may feel when suffering from CAD. They are fairly similar to anemia, but do have some variations. A combination of any of these symptoms should lead to checking with a doctor quickly. It’s important to note that symptoms flare up when a person is exposed to cold temperatures. It’s far more common to see these in the late fall, winter and early spring. Symptoms include:
- Soreness in the legs, joints and back
- Feeling dizzy or lightheaded
- Fatigue and tiredness
- Irritable behavior or mood swings
- Hearing a ringing in the ears
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Feeling very cold in the feet or hands
- Irregular heartbeat
- Chest pains
- Skin becoming pale or yellowing
Treating Cold Agglutinin Disease
In cases of primary CAD, treatment can be tricky and will depend on the severity of the CAD case. For people who have secondary CAD, treatment is much more straightforward. Since CAD causes are varied, treatment for those cases have to be related to curing the underlying illness. From there, the symptoms of cold agglutinin syndrome will typically go away.
In primary cases, mild symptoms could require no treatment. It’s merely a case of wearing some extra clothes, staying warm and avoiding cold weather. For people who have advanced cases with very low red blood cell levels, a blood transfusion can provide some quick relief. A session of plasmapheresis can filter the blood and help as well. Severe cases will turn to medications.