How to identify Amyloidosis

The symptoms caused by amyloidosis vary according to the location that the disease affects, which can cause heart palpitations, difficulty breathing and thickening of the tongue, depending on the type of disease that the person has.

Amyloidosis is a rare disease in which small deposits of amyloid proteins occur, which are rigid fibers in different organs and tissues of the body, preventing their proper functioning. This improper deposit of amyloid proteins can happen, for example, in the heart, liver, kidneys, tendons and in the nervous system. See how to treat this disease by clicking here.

The main types of amyloidosis are:

AL or Primary amyloidosis

It is the most common form of the disease and mainly causes changes in blood cells. As the disease progresses, other organs are affected, such as kidneys, heart, liver, spleen, nerves, intestines, skin, tongue and blood vessels.

The symptoms caused by this type of disease depend on the severity of the amyloid, being common the absence of symptoms or the presentation of signs linked only to the heart, such as swollen abdomen, shortness of breath, weight loss and fainting. See other symptoms here.

AA or Secondary Amyloidosis

This type of disease arises due to the presence of chronic diseases or due to prolonged periods of inflammation or infection in the body, usually longer than 6 months, as in cases of rheumatoid arthritis, familial Mediterranean fever, osteomyelitis, tuberculosis, lupus or inflammatory bowel disease.

Amyloids begin to settle in the kidneys, but they can also affect the liver, spleen, lymph nodes and the intestine, and the most common symptom is the presence of protein in the urine, which can lead to kidney failure and a consequent decrease in the production of urine and body swelling.

Hereditary amyloidosis or AF

Familial amyloidosis, also called hereditary, is a form of the disease caused by a change in the baby's DNA during pregnancy or which was inherited from the parents.

This type of disease mainly affects the nervous system and the heart, and the symptoms usually start from the age of 50 or during old age, and there may also be cases in which the symptoms never appear and the disease does not affect the patients' lives.

However, when symptoms are present, the main characteristics are loss of sensation in the hands, diarrhea, difficulty walking, heart and kidney problems, but when present in the most severe forms, this disease can cause the death of children between 7 and 10 years.

Senile Systemic Amyloidosis

This type of disease arises in the elderly and usually causes heart problems such as heart failure, palpitations, easy tiredness, swelling in the legs and ankles, shortness of breath and excess urine.

However, the disease also appears mildly and does not impair the functioning of the heart.

Kidney-related amyloidosis

This type of amyloidosis occurs in patients who have kidney failure and have been on hemodialysis for many years, as the filter of the dialysis machine cannot eliminate the beta-2 microglobulin protein from the body, which ends up accumulating in the joints and tendons.

Thus, the symptoms caused are pain, stiffness, accumulation of fluids in the joints and carpal tunnel syndrome, which causes tingling and swelling in the fingers. See how to treat Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Localized Amyloidosis

It is when amyloids accumulate in only one region or organ of the body, causing tumors mainly in the bladder and airways, such as lungs and bronchi.

In addition, tumors caused by this disease can also accumulate in the skin, intestine, eye, sinus, throat and tongue, being more common in cases of type 2 diabetes, thyroid cancer and after 80 years of age.

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