In Clendon\u2019s case, it was believed the amyloid build-up was affecting her heart.<\/p>\n
Clendon said she was awaiting confirmation, including whether she had AL (Amyloid Light Chain) amyloidosis or ATTR (Transthyretin Amyloidosis) amyloidosis.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, \u201cI feel like I\u2019m stuck in the mud.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be completely honest, come November when I got those results, even before then, I felt like the Christmas just gone would be my last.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clendon said heart medication meant she no longer experienced the same level of breathlessness. She still required a lot of rest but could manage tasks such as cleaning the house.<\/p>\n
She did voluntary work at her church and was looking for paid work, \u201cbut it\u2019s got to be the right one in terms of can my body hack it\u201d.<\/p>\n
She lives with her son and daughter and said she had other family support.<\/p>\n
Clendon traced her heart issues back to when she suffered a cardiac arrest in 2010 and \u201cdropped dead basically\u201d.<\/p>\n
She spent several weeks recovering in Rotorua Hospital.<\/p>\n
Clendon wanted to raise awareness about amyloidosis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are short of breath or if you are feeling like your heart\u2019s going to pound out of your chest, go to the doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Rodger Tiedemann says different classes of drugs are used to treat the two types of amyloidosis. Photo \/ Jason Oxenham<\/p>\n
Auckland City Hospital haematologist and University of Auckland associate professor of medicine Dr Rodger Tiedemann said AL and ATTR amyloidosis were the two most common types of amyloidosis seen in western countries out of \u201c30-plus\u201d types.<\/p>\n
Tiedemann said AL amyloidosis was caused by a \u201cpre-cancer clone\u201d of plasma cells in the bone marrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey make this protein that gets secreted into the blood that isn\u2019t properly folded or has propensity to misfold, and it deposits out in tissues in a misfolded state … \u201d<\/p>\n
He said amyloid protein disrupted tissue function, often the heart, kidneys, nerves, and gut.<\/p>\n
ATTR amyloidosis involved a different protein \u2013 the TTR protein \u2013 misfolding and was produced by the liver, he said.<\/p>\n
Tiedemann said different classes of drugs were used to treat the two conditions.<\/p>\n
He said amyloid deposition in the tissue was \u201cvery difficult\u201d to remove, and most treatments were aimed at preventing progression. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor patients who present late with heart failure or liver failure, it can be very serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some patients could see \u201creversals\u201d of their heart failure following treatment, but for many it \u201ceither doesn\u2019t happen or it happens very slowly\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
Rotorua AL amyloidosis patient makes \u2018comeback\u2019 <\/p>\n