My favorite aspect of practicing medicine is treating diseases caused by dysfunction of the immune system. In previous blogs, I reviewed two common immune-mediated diseases – immune-mediated hemolytic anemia and immune-mediated thrombocytopenia. A less commonly appreciated condition of immune system dysfunction is immune-mediated polyarthropathy or IMPA, a disease where the immune system attacks a pet’s joints. … [Read more…]
In last week’s blog post, I introduced you to the causes and common clinical signs of, as well as diagnostic tests for chronic nasal disease in dogs and cats. To continue our discussion of this topic, this week I review various potential treatments for some frequently encountered chronic nasal diseases. Nasal infectious disease treatment… Treatment of an … [Read more…]
Immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) is the term used to describe the destruction of red blood cells by the body’s immune system. Sometimes this disease is called autoimmune hemolytic anemia and AIHA. Causes of immune-mediated hemolytic anemia… Certain infections, vaccinations, medications and/or cancers may trigger this disease, including: Bacterial infections – Mycoplasma spp., leptospirosis, pyometra (uterine … [Read more…]