This Amyloidosis test is for determining the genetic risk for the most common European variant of Amyloidosis.
Amyloidosis is a disease that occurs when substances called amyloid proteins to build up in your organs. Amyloid is an abnormal protein usually produced by cells in your bone marrow that can be deposited in any tissue or organ. Amyloidosis can affect different organs in different people, and there are different types of amyloid. Amyloidosis frequently affects the heart, kidneys, liver, spleen, nervous system and gastrointestinal tract. Amyloidosis occurs when abnormal proteins build up and form deposits. The deposits can collect in organs such as the kidney and heart. This can cause the organs to become stiff and unable to work the way they should.
Amyloidosis is caused by the misfolding and build-up of a protein called light chain, which is produced by abnormal white blood cells in the bone marrow. The abnormal bone marrow cells are usually benign (non-cancerous), but are malignant in a proportion of cases (in multiple myeloma, cancer of the bone marrow). Amyloidosis is sometimes referred to as ‘light chain amyloidosis.’ The abnormal light chain protein is typically deposited in the heart, kidneys, nerves or gut, or a combination of these.
In order to warn yourself, please try our Amyloidosis test.
Common symptoms of amyloidosis include:
- Fatigue and weakness
- Edema (swelling of the feet or legs, less often – the face)
- Shortness of breath
- Arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythms)
- Drowsiness
- Appetite and weight loss
- Diarrhea/constipation
- Bloating
- Paresthesia (abnormal feeling in the fingers and toes)
- Bruising and bleeding easily
- Nail damage and hair loss (alopecia)
- Difficulties swallowing
- Macroglossia (large tongue)
