Address

7151 N. Main Street, Suite 2
Clarkston, MI 48346

Website

www.amyloidosisresearchfoundation.org

Description

Amyloidosis is a group of diseases in which many different types of proteins accumulate in the body organs and tissue. These deposits damage the structure and function of the tissues and cause serious disease, which is often fatal if it affects major organs and is not treated.

There are three major types of amyloidosis that are all very different from one another.

Hereditary Amyloidosis is the only type of amyloidosis that can be inherited. There are several different types of protein, such as Transthyretin (TTR), Fibrinogen Aa, Apolipoprotein AI and AII and Lysozyme involved that are produced by mutated genes. Most often the proteins are manufactured in the liver, thus liver transplants have been used for treatment. There are drugs being investigated for the TTR form of this disease that may keep the TTR protein from breaking down into amyloid proteins.