Cold Agglutinin Disease Symptoms

Anemia is a common symptom of Cold Agglutinin Disease, caused but the sharp drop in the amount of red blood cells in circulation. Other symptoms may include sweating, feelings of coldness in the body, discoloration of fingers, toes, wrists, and ankles—often causing them to take on a reddish or even bluish hue. Some people experience fatigue and jaundice yellowing of the skin and/or the whites of the eyes.

Cold Agglutinin Disease

Cold Agglutinin Disease, also known as antibody Hemolytic Anemia and Cold antibody Disease, is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks red blood cells when those cells are room temperature or cooler. As such, the immune system tends to attack the cooler parts of the body like ears and fingers. The red blood cells are destroyed before the body would naturally rid itself of them and the newly formed cells cannot make up for the loss. The disease can form in either men or women and typically does so after the age of forty.

There are two types of Cold Agglutinin Disease—chronic and acute. There is no known cause for the chronic form of Cold Agglutinin Disease. The acute form of the diseases typically develops in those with pre-existing infections such as lymphoma, mononucleosis, and HIV.

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