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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Can Addisons Disease cause AIHA?
| I am not finding much on this in corrolation with AIHA and I bring it up becuase there is a lenghy article in this months Whole Dog journal on it. It said symptoms - Anemia (no reference to IAHA) lethargy vomiting lositng weight rear leg weakness. Is there a difference between the anemia referenced and AIHA? It is an autoimmunee disease that is fatal unless treated and the article said it is becoming more common and most Vets miss the diagnosis. I did find this comment on google search AIHA can occur as a primary condition or a secondary condition related to other autoimmune disorders or malignancies. So if there is a corrolation, then could this be why we are seeing fatalities since it is treated somehwat differently than AIHA. The regiman does include prednizone, but I think the main family of drugs for treating it s called glucotroids. Thoughts? Laurie |
| Laurie |
| Laurie, Good research. I know it's difficult to sort out everything you read when it's not presented in a way that is straightforward. The most important place to start is to understand that anemia is a symptom, it is not the disease itself. And the symptom could be described as there are not enough red blood cells (or the RBC are defective) to get enough oxygen to the body cells. In other words a disease condition or environmental factor causes anemia. Even spontaneous autoimmune hemolytic anemia is really caused by the immune system becoming dysfunctional. So the vet must use diagnostics to determine what the cause of the anemia is. The terms AIHA autoimmune hemolytic anemia and IMHA immune mediated hemolytic anemia are very similar but there are differences. This is where the terms primary and secondary come into play. When we use the term AIHA we are generally referring to a primary case of hemolytic anemia. The term most often used to describe this is idiopathic. That means that we don't know the cause or the cause seems to be indiscoverable. Some diseases are considered idopathic, "arising spontaneously or from an obscure or unknown cause." In general though, most people accept that the immune system is involved with AIHA. IMHA (immune mediated) is the description used for anemia that has a specific cause. A good example of this is when a tick disease inserts itself inside the red blood cell. The immune system knows it is in there and will begin attacking all red blood cells in an effort to get rid of the tick disease. If you treat for the tick disease with antibiotics or other treatments the immune system may stop destroying the RBC. Addisons disease is a condition where the adrenal glands do not produce enough cortisol for the body to function properly. It can be a very dangerous disease. It is the opposite of Cushing's disease where the glands produce too much cortisol. Either condition is very serious. In AIHA/IMHA dogs that are treated with prednisone, we are giving way too much cortisol to the body and the dog will develop Cushing's disease. If you take away the prednisone, the Cushing's symptoms go away. The key here is that there is either too much cortisol or too little cortisol for the proper function of the body. And yes, that can affect the circulatory system. In fact all body systems are disturbed. So one symptom can be anemia. So, wrapping up, there are many causes for anemia. Some are really easy to figure out, for instance, someone who has a large cut and is bleeding severely. Other causes are mysterious and take a long time to treat and diagnose like bone marrow failure. my best patrice |
| Patrice NYS |
| Hi Laurie, Addison's Disease and IMHA are related in that they are both diseases of involving disregulation of the immune system. Addison's Disease arises when the cell's of the adrenal glands are destroyed by one's own immune system. IMHA arises when RBCs are destroyed, again, by one's own immune system. Both diseases, are caused by abnormal responses of the immune system. If a dog is genetically suspectible to one autoimmune disease, they are at higher rise for getting another autoimmune illness. Addison's disease is treated with physiological glucocorticoid replacement (prednisone) and mineralcoid replacement. During an Addisonian crisis, anemia can occur but is not IMHA type anemia. RBC can be destroyed due to low blood volume. Once Addison's is properly under control, the anemia resolves itself. Hope this help! Ella |
| Ella Seattle |
| Patrice and Ella, thanks for your explanation. Makes sense that I could not find anyting on IAHA/IMHA and Addisons. Laurie |
| Laurie CA |
| Laurie, thanks for raising your question and mentioning the article in the Whole Dog Journal. And thanks to Patrice and Ella for your responses. My dear Wiley developed Addison's Disease the year before she developed IMHA, and I always wondered if there was more to it than the mere fact that she had a compromised immune system. She had been diagnosed with hypothyroidism in spring 2001, and after that, it seemed like it was always something. By the explanations that Patrice and Ella used, Wiley had AIHA, although I was told IMHA. The vets couldn't identify why she became ill, but it seems like, in retrospect, she was almost destined to develop IMHA because of the progression of immune issues she had. If I recall, when she was diagnosed with Addison's in 2004, the vet said they could not find any evidence of adrenal glands. In retrospect, I think Wiley suffered from autoimmune thyroiditis since when she was a young dog (she died at age 10 1/2) and I wonder how things might have been if the vets had diagnosed that. I never heard of it until someone here mentioned that Dr. Dodds told her that her dog probably had it. I looked up the symptoms, and Wiley fit them. she had chronic UTIs and she developed seizures shortly after her third birthday. Then, after her sixth birthday, it seemed like a new challenge every year. That said, Wiley was an exceptional dog, a highly-intelligent, mischievous beagle who lived life to the fullest -- most people would never know of her health issues. But I can't help wondering, until the day I die, if we could have done something proactive to be ready in case the progression was toward AIHA/ IMHA. My best to everyone. |
| Brenda VA |
This thread was discussed between 04/10/2011 and 10/10/2011
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