Art for Autoimmune Hemolytic Disease
Read about this rare disease below!
This past year, I’ve been posting health related art to my artist Facebook page, and someone suggested I look up autoimmune hemolytic disease. I’d never heard of it, so I did a bit of research, then made this watercolor painting.
The simple explanation is that this disease causes the red blood cells to prematurely bust. I painted red crepe myrtles to represent this disease because the red color of the petals represents the red awareness ribbon color. The petals also symbolize red blood cells bursting because of how easy it is to shake the petals free.
As far as I know, there’s no particular awareness month for this disorder, but rare disorders are recognized every February.
Warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia (wAIHA) causes red blood cells- which carry oxygen- to burst prematurely before new red blood cells can be produced, which results in anemia. Hemoglobin also deteriorates into bilirubin, which then produces symptoms of jaundice.
References:
https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/warm-autoimmune-hemolytic-anemia/
https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/5870/autoimmune-hemolytic-anemia
The person that informed me of this condition also mentioned that she developed kidney disease due to this autoimmune disorder. This can happen when filters in the kidneys become clogged with destroyed blood cells.
Its amazing (and sometimes heartbreaking) how the systems in our bodies are so interconnected. As another example, gallbladder issues can cause shoulder pain because of the way the nerves run from the abdomen and upper body. COPD can cause a barrel shaped chest, and heart failure can cause legs to become swollen- because systems in our bodies affect each other!
I do not publish behind a “paywall,” so read all you’d like.
