Disease Information for Cold autoimmune hemolytic anemia

Anemia, Hemolytic, Cold Antibody; Anemia, Autoimmune Hemolytic; Cold Agglutinin Disease; Cold Antibody Disease;

Cold Antibody Hemolytic Anemia is a rare autoimmune disorder characterized by the premature destruction of red blood cells by the body"s natural defenses against invading organisms (antibodies); Normally, the red blood cells have a life span of approximately 120 days before they are removed by the spleen; In individuals with Cold Antibody Hemolytic Anemia, the red blood cells are destroyed prematurely and bone marrow production of new cells can no longer compensate for their loss; The severity of the anemia is determined by the length of time that the red blood cells survive and by the capacity of the bone marrow to continue new red blood cell production; Immune Hemolytic Anemias may be subdivided by the temperatures at which the antibodies destroy red blood cells; As its name implies, Cold Antibody Hemolytic Anemia occurs at temperatures of approximately 0 to 10 degrees centigrade (while Warm Antibody Hemolytic Anemia, for example, occurs at temperatures of 37 degrees or higher); In most cases, Cold Antibody Hemolytic Anemia is a primary disorder that typically becomes apparent from approximately 50 to 60 years of age; Symptoms and findings associated with the disorder may include fatigue; low levels of circulating red blood cells (anemia); persistent yellowing of the skin, mucous membranes, and whites of the eyes (jaundice); and/or sweating and coldness of the fingers and/or toes (digits) and uneven bluish or reddish discoloration of the skin of the digits, ankles, and wrists (acrocyanosis or Raynaud’s sign); Cold Antibody Hemolytic Anemia may also occur due to or in association with a number of different underlying disorders such as certain infectious diseases (eg, mycoplasma infection, mumps, cytomegalovirus, infectious mononucleosis), immunoproliferative diseases (eg, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia), or connective tissue disorders (eg, systemic lupus erythematosus); Although Cold Antibody Hemolytic Anemia is known to be an autoimmune disorder, its exact underlying cause is not fully understood--------[NORD 2005]-----------

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