Transthyretin Amyloidosis is More Prevalent than Thought

Evidence suggests that transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis, also known as senile systemic amyloidosis, is the condition that kills the oldest people, those who have survived every other aspect of aging to reach ages of 110 and greater. Here, I'll note a review paper in which the authors point out that TTR amyloidosis in aging is very likely much more prevalent than this: not a condition only seen in the oldest old, but rather also the cause of a small but sizable fraction of some varieties of heart failure across the entire elderly population. It has been misdiagnosed due to lack of adequate testing for the condition, and thus the development of treatments has not been prioritized highly enough. Numerous types of amyloid appear in tissues with aging, each consisting of a specific misfolded protein that precipitates to form form clumps and fibrils. In the case of transthyretin amyloid, these deposits clog blood vessels and lead to hypertrophy of the heart, ending with something that looks a lot like congestive heart failure. The obvious path to dealing with amyloids and their contribution to aging and age-related disease is to periodically remove them. This is the approach taken by much of the Alzheimer's research community, but in that case has proven unexpectedly challenging to date even though a large amount of funding is devoted to, for example, the development of immune therapies to achieve this goal. In the case of TTR amyloidosis there is very little work under way, but t...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs