So here I am hanging out at the fire department on shift for the ambulance, and we all start talking about a particular weird case we saw sometime this past year. A real headscratcher. Anyway, tonight the mystery was cleared up when our medical director told us the final diagnosis...this person had a life-threatening allergic reaction to cold water! NO KIDDING! Turns out its not that uncommon, just usually not life-threatening.

After a little bit of research on the 'net, we found out that some people are genetically predisposed to breaking out in hives when exposed to cold water. It usually shows up in older teens and young adults and may only be present for 5-6 years but can stick around for a lifetime. In some rare cases it can cause an anaphylactic reaction (low to no blood pressure and swollen airway) that often results in death. Usually swimming in cold water is the culprit for the life-threatening reaction.

Guess how they diagnose it? Yup, the doctor slaps an icecube on the patient's arm and holds it there for 4 minutes. If the patient ends up with hives where the icecube sat...they are diagnosed with Cold Urticaria. Nope, I'm not making this up.  You can check out this website for more info: http://dermatology.about.com/cs/hives/a/coldurt.htm

I learn something new and interesting all the time working in healthcare, but I think this gets the award for the most wacko, unbelievable but true disorder. Who would have ever thought that jumping into cold water could kill a person?! Or that drinking a glass of ice water could make them break out in hives and start wheezing?! Wow.