Her Various Symptoms Seemed Unrelated. Then One Doctor Put It All Together.
The patient didn’t have multiple myeloma either, though
that test, which measures levels of one part of the immune system known as antibodies, was abnormal; one antibody, known as IgM, was high.
In Schnitzler syndrome, according to current thinking, the most primitive part of the immune system — a type
of white blood cell known as the macrophage — goes wild and instructs the body to act as if it is infected.
“When I see people suffering and I know that if I took the time
and effort, I could figure it out,” he told me, “then I have to do something.” He looks for unexplained pathological findings — in this case, the high level of IgM.
The body responds with fever and chills, a loss of appetite, flulike body aches, hives and high levels of one specific type of antibody: IgM.
She also sent off a test to look for a type of blood cancer called multiple
myeloma, which attacks the blood and bones and is seen in patients over 50.