What is amyloidosis?

Has baffled doctors and has no cure, but early diagnosis, lifestyle change helpful.

AL Amyloidosis or AL is a rare and insidious disease that has long baffled the medical fraternity because, in many cases, its multiple and varied manifestations can lead to misdiagnosis.

The disease has shown itself in various guises, ranging from heart failure and kidney dysfunction to nerve damage and gastrointestinal challenges.

The most alarming aspect of AL is that people may have the condition without being aware.

Patients do not know what to look out for, and the later the diagnosis, the poorer the chances are for effective treatment.

AL occurs most commonly in men aged between 60 and 70.

Vanessa Snow, the head of medical affairs at Janssen South Africa, cautioned that "its consequences can be devastating if it isn't timeously diagnosed".

AL occurs when a protein called amyloid builds up in organs and causes them to malfunction.

"Organs that could be affected include the heart, kidneys, liver, spleen, nervous system and the digestive tract," said Snow.

She added that some types of AL could even lead to life-threatening instances of organ failure.

"A 2023 study indicated that the diagnostic delay in the United States is typically between one and three years, and this is worrying," Snow stresses.

"Symptoms of the illness are diverse, depending upon the organs affected. It's easy to see then, why a diagnosis could get misdirected."