In a new study, researchers found many people have a dangerous heart condition: a potentially fatal buildup of abnormal proteins in the heart.
This condition has been recognized as a big cause of heart failure in older people.
The condition is often left undiagnosed and untreated, even though there are drugs that can beat it.
The study was done by a team from University College London.
This heart condition is called transthyretin amyloidosis. It can also occur in other organs.
Previous research has shown that about 25% of older people with heart failure have proteins in their hearts.
In the study, the team examined data from 1,034 patients who had different types of amyloidosis between 2001 and 2017.
Amyloidosis occurs when abnormal proteins join and attach to organs, tissues, nerves and other places in the body, disrupting normal function.
They found that the disease was undiagnosed in many patients, who had been in and out of the hospital before the disease was ever detected.
For example, typical patients visited a hospital about 17 times within the three years before getting a diagnosis.
This disease can be caused by genetic factors and environmental factors.
People who had a gene variant of the disease had worse heart and kidney conditions.
The findings suggest that it is very important to detect and treat amyloidosis effectively in the early stages of the disease.
The researchers also suggest that two new drugs may help fight the disease.
One is tafamidis, which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration this year.
The other is AG10, which is currently being tested in clinical studies.
The lead author of the study is Dr. Julian D. Gilmore, a professor at the National Amyloidosis Centre at University College London.
The study is published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
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