what triggers autoimmune hemolytic anemia
To Rrachlin:
I wonder if there’s a parrticular known trigger that causes AIHA whose cause is unknown. It would be nice to know?what?makes the immune system to go awry (so we can avoid them.) I don’t think doctors?know much about the mysterious disease, Should anyone know,?let us?know.
AMM
-----Original Message-----
From: rrachlin aha-cpt8465@lists.careplace.com
To: ammnewyork@aol.com
Sent: Mon, 7 Apr 2008 1:39 pm
Subject: [aha] triggers
My doctor is leaning towards “I was born with it and it remained dormant for quite awhile”
mesiamd aha-cpt8465@lists.careplace.com wrote:
I guess your doctor means he isn’t sure or he doesn’t know.?Maybe (?)?a fraction of AIHA?is inborn, but we don’t have strong evidence for it. If it was there in dormancy as?in your case, what triggered it to manifest? Your MD doesn’t seem to have an answer for it.
Should we know the disease’s triggers and causes, we still need to focus on the cure. But I’m with you though----it’s still good to know what causes AIHA. It gives us, sufferers, a form “closure” no the issue of where we got it.
A “heritable” or genetic form of AIHA doesn’t augur well for our eligibility to be insured in the future (?) Sometimes it’s better?keep?it that way—that?it’s not?part of?our genetic record.
AMM
-----Original Message-----
From: CT1957 aha-cpt8465@lists.careplace.com
To: ammnewyork@aol.com
Sent: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 7:21 pm
Subject: Re: [aha] triggers
I believe there is some sort of trigger mechanism for this disease. I never had a problem with it until 7 years ago and I am now 58. After that flare, the problem recurred several months ago. There has to be SOMETHING that is causing this to occur. I have been under prolonged stress over the last year, dealing with an aging parent with dementia. I have to wonder if the chronic stress doesn’t precipitate the immune system to “overreact”.
Stress is certainly a trigger for almost any illness—autoimmune diseases, ulcers, asthma, skin diseases,?emotional disorders etc. But the mechanism of all these, we don’t know. Stress of whatever kind, can surely affect the immune system and maybe trigger AIHA.
Come to think about it, many people go through stress in a magnitude that nears or surpass your stress. But they don’t have AIHA. How about?other factors like?genetics that your MD told you? Toxic chemical exposures??Bacterial, fungal,?and viral triggers? Malnutrion? Radiation? Spontaneous gene mutations? Hormonal influence? The possibilities widen when you consider all these.
If?stress is the trigger for AIHA, why is AIHA so uncommon?and stress is very common? In other words, we expect more AIHA in a population in which stress is prevalent, but we know that’s not true.
So maybe?that’s?one reason why many doctors humbly say they don’t know AIHA’s cause. That’s why they say AIHA a mysterious disease. And for unknown reasons, AIHA can relapse after years of remission. You are right there must be SOMETHING…but that something is not known at this time.
AMM
-----Original Message-----
From: rrachlin aha-cpt8465@lists.careplace.com
To: ammnewyork@aol.com
Sent: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 8:58 pm
Subject: Re: [aha] triggers