Once a Death Sentence, This Heart Condition Is Finally Treatable
Mr. Hicks, a former railroad worker from Rogers, Ark., had quietly dealt with various health problems, from carpal tunnel syndrome in both arms to dual knee replacements. But now his heart was giving out, and the doctors chalked it up to the wear and tear of old age. “There’s just not exactly a surgery to fix this,” he said.
Soon enough, Mr. Hicks couldn’t walk from his grandson’s high school basketball game to the car, without stopping several times to catch his breath. His feet and ankles would swell if he didn’t elevate them. He could feel his heart racing uncontrollably, unable to find a steady rhythm. Mr. Hicks’ doctors tried a half-dozen different medications, but nothing really helped.
It wasn’t until 2023, some 10 years after the original diagnosis, that a local cardiologist raised the possibility of cardiac amyloidosis, a little-known form of heart failure.
Over the past 50 years, heart failure has become one of the fastest-growing cardiac killers. It was long considered a disease of aging, caused by gradual yet unavoidable changes to the heart. But doctors are now discovering that about 15 percent of cases are caused by a rogue protein called amyloid, perhaps best known for its role in Alzheimer’s. While one type tangles neurons in the brain, others infiltrate the heart, making the muscle stiff and less able to pump blood.
