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HEALTH TIP from Dr. Vliet: What is Amyloidosis?

You may have been hearing more lately about a medical condition called Amyloid, or Amyloidosis. Amyloids are aggregates of proteins characterized by a fibrillar morphology, typically measuring 7–13 nanometers in diameter.  Amyloids result from the misfolding and aggregation of proteins and can accumulate in any organ or tissue. The buildup may happen in a single organ (localized) or throughout the body (systemically). This buildup disrupts normal functioning and can make the organs not work properly.

 

Amyloid abnormal proteins play a significant role in heart, brain and lung damage following both the COVID illness and the COVID injections, as well as the rise in “turbo cancers”, and a variety of chronic medical conditions–dementia, neurodegenerative disorders, heart and kidney failure for example.  Multi-organ damage due to amyloid deposits is a very active area of research in medicine and biology.  In 2022, researchers discovered a link between harmful amyloid production and COVID-19 symptoms. In patients with serious and long-term COVID-19, researchers have discovered that the body's immune system can affect the spike protein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, leading to the production of a misfolded spike protein called amyloid.

 

Amyloidosis is also a group of less common medical syndromes caused by the accumulation of these clumps of misfolded proteins. It can affect various organs, including the heart, kidneys, liver, spleen, nervous system, and digestive tract34. Depending on the affected organ, amyloidosis can lead to symptoms such as heart failure, kidney dysfunction, lung damage, cognitive decline, dementia, neuropathy (nerve damage), and skin changes.

There are many different types of amyloidosis. Some are hereditary and some are secondary to other medical conditions, such as inflammatory conditions (obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, infections, autoimmune disorders, and others) or long-term dialysis. Types of amyloidosis include:

  • AL amyloidosis (immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis or primary amyloidosis) is the most common type of amyloidosis in developed countries and usually affects the heart, kidneys, liver and nerves.
  • AA amyloidosis (secondary amyloidosis) is usually triggered by an inflammatory disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, obesity, COVID vaccine spike protein/LNP damage, viral/bacterial/fungal infections, environmental toxins. Secondary amyloidosis most commonly affects the heart, kidneys, liver and spleen. Most people who are diagnosed with secondary amyloidosis have typically had their underlying inflammatory disease (a common one is diabetes) for a decade or more.
  • Hereditary amyloidosis (familial amyloidosis) is an inherited disorder that affects the nerves, heart and kidneys and commonly happens when transthyretin protein (TTR), a protein made by your liver, is abnormal or misfolded and causes abnormal deposits in the tissues of your body.
  • Wild-type amyloidosis (senile systemic amyloidosis) occurs when the TTR protein made by the liver is normal, but a trigger (infection, inflammation, etc.) causes it to produce amyloid. Wild-type (senile) amyloidosis tends to affect men over age 70 and often targets the heart and can also cause carpal tunnel syndrome.
  • Localized amyloidosis is associated with aging, as the body seems to naturally make amyloid as it ages. Type 2 Diabetes (where protein builds up in the pancreas) and Alzheimer's disease (where protein builds up in the brain) are two common medical conditions associated with localized amyloidosis. Another form of localized amyloidosis, called Beta2-microglobulin amyloidosis, occurs in people with kidney failure who have been on dialysis for a long time. Beta2-microglobulin is a protein that can build up in the blood as a result of kidney failure.  Typical sites for localized amyloidosis include the bladder, skin, throat, or lungs, but amyloidosis may affect any tissue and organ. Correct diagnosis is important so that treatments that affect the entire body can be avoided.

Signs and symptoms may be vague and can include the following. More specific signs and symptoms of amyloidosis depend on the organ(s) affected and size of the amyloid deposits.

  • Severe fatigue and weakness
  • Shortness of breath, lung inflammation/fibrosis
  • Heart arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation and others. The heart is involved in about 50% of patients with amyloidosis.
  • Numbness, tingling, or pain in the hands or feet
  • Swelling of the ankles and legs
  • Stroke
  • Diarrhea, possibly with blood, or constipation
  • An enlarged tongue, which sometimes looks rippled around its edge, and can be associated with swelling under the jaw, breathing difficulties and sleep apnea
  • Skin changes, such as thickening or easy bruising, and purplish patches around the eyes, easy bruising.
  • Kidney disorders, including kidney failure
  • Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, such as perforation (hole), bleeding, slow movement of matter through the GI tract, and blockage
  • Enlarged liver, abnormal liver enzymes
  • Diminished function of the spleen
  • Diminished function of the adrenal and other endocrine glands, such as the thyroid, pancreas, parathyroid, ovaries or testicles.
  • Swelling of the shoulder joints (may look like shoulder pads under the skin)
  • Bleeding problems
  • Weight loss

Diagnosis requires specialized tests.  There are many approaches to treatment. Treatments focus on eliminating or reducing the amyloid forming proteins by treating underlying chronic inflammation, chronic infections, and obesity.

 

Treatment may include anti-inflammatory medicines such as hydroxychloroquine and colchicine, and corticosteroids, chemotherapy and other types of medications to reduce amyloid production and control symptoms.  For more severe life-threatening cases, stem cell or organ transplants may be recommended.

 

In addition to medical treatments, an anti-inflammatory diet such as the Mediterranean Diet, reducing salt in the diet, gentle movement such as Qi Gong, Tai Chi or Yoga, weight training and walking are helpful.  Improving quality of sleep is also important to improve healing and repair and reducing inflammation.

Anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and immune-boosting nutraceuticals are also beneficial to block amyloid binding to healthy tissue and causing damage. Polyphenols found in fruits and vegetables are natural compounds that bind to the abnormal TTR protein and help stop the progression of amyloidosis.

The following Truth For Health Foundation supplements contain ingredients that research studies have shown can slow the progression amyloidosis and reduce organ damage from the amyloid deposits:

So for those suffering from the complications of amyloid, whether from the COVID shots, COVID illness or other medical conditions, you may want to consider augmenting your anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant approaches with some of our unique supplements.

 

To your improving health!

Elizabeth Lee Vliet, MD

 

All Truth for Health Foundation Formulas are Meet or Exceed Quality Standards set by FDA Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP).   For more information, references from studies are listed in the Product Data Sheets for each product on our website.

 

Under medical practice regulations, we are unable to answer individual medical questions or make specific individual supplement recommendations for people who are not established patients of Dr. Vliet’s independent medical practice.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

 

Josh the rest of this material on amyloid should be posted as the full Health Tip on store website and not included in body of email. 

Continue reading here for more information on factors that increase the risk of amyloidosis and the kinds of damage that can occur.  INSERT LINK TO REST OF HEALTH TIP POST ON STORE

Factors that Increase Risk of Amyloidosis

  • Most people diagnosed with amyloidosis are between ages 60 and 70.
  • Amyloidosis occurs more commonly in men.
  • Other diseases. Having a chronic infectious or inflammatory disease (diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity) increases the risk of secondary amyloidosis.
  • Family history. Some types of amyloidosis are hereditary.
  • Kidney dialysis. Dialysis can't always remove large proteins from the blood. If you're on dialysis, abnormal proteins can build up in your blood and eventually be deposited in tissue. This condition is less common with more modern dialysis techniques.
  • People of African descent appear to be at higher risk of carrying a genetic mutation associated with a type of amyloidosis that can harm the heart.

Amyloidosis can seriously damage many organs, but the most severe impact affects critical organs such as:

  • Amyloid reduces the heart's ability to fill with blood between heartbeats. Less blood is pumped with each beat. This can cause shortness of breath. If amyloidosis affects the heart's electrical system, it can cause heart rhythm problems, such as atrial fibrillation. Amyloid-related heart problems can become life-threatening.
  • Kidneys. Amyloid can harm the kidneys' filtering system. This affects their ability to remove waste products from the body, leading to a rise in BUN and creatinine, and a decrease in GFR that can eventually cause kidney failure.
  • Nervous system. Nerve damage (neuropathy) can cause pain, numbness, or tingling of the fingers and feet. If amyloid affects the nerves that control bowel function, it can cause periods of alternating constipation and diarrhea. Damage to the nerves that control blood pressure can make people feel faint if they stand up too quickly. Accumulation of amyloid plaques in the brain has been known for decades to be a factor in development of dementia as well as strokes.

Additional Resources:

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2020.01024/full  Treating Protein Misfolding Diseases: Therapeutic Successes Against Systemic Amyloidoses

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10383215/ COVID-19 Infection and Vaccination and Its Relation to Amyloidosis: What Do We Know Currently?

https://www.healthline.com/health/amyloidosis/natural-therapies-for-amyloidosis

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6311354/ Ashwangandha

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7301710/ Polyphenol compounds

https://www.stlukes-stl.com/health-content/medicine/33/000007.htm