Here’s what experts know so far: When you have ATTR-CM, your body deposits proteins called amyloids into the heart muscle, making it thicker and stiffer. This brings on symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue, says Michelle Kittleson, MD, PhD, chair of the writing group for the 2020 American Heart Association Scientific Statement on Cardiac Amyloidosis and a professor of medicine at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. But these proteins have an impact on more than the heart. They travel to other places in the body, as well, she says.
Amyloid buildup can affect the gastrointestinal system, the peripheral nervous system, and the musculoskeletal system, in addition to the heart, says Maureen Geary, a nurse practitioner in the amyloidosis program at New York University Langone in New York City.
This type of testing became more prevalent once healthcare providers started to recognize a pattern: After looking back at the medical histories of people with ATTR-CM, it became clear that many adults who were diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis after presenting with heart problems had been treated for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome five to 10 years earlier, Geary says.
If your orthopedist or surgeon suspects your carpal tunnel syndrome could be related to amyloidosis, you’ll be referred to a cardiologist (if you don’t see one already). They’ll monitor you for symptoms of ATTR-CM. That way, “You’ll catch the disease as soon as there are heart-related manifestations, and that affords you the opportunity for early initiation of therapy,” Kittleson says. The earlier you treat ATTR-CM, the longer your life expectancy with the condition will be — and the better your quality of life during those years, she adds.
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