Harvard Health Content API

Antiphospholipid syndrome is a condition in which a person has abnormal antibodies and either an increased tendency to form blood clots or an increased tendency to have miscarriages. The abnormal antibodies in this condition come in 3 main forms: lupus anticoagulant, anti-cardiolipin antibodies and anti-beta2-glycoprotein.

Monoclonal gammopathy is a condition in which there is an abnormally high production of a specific type of antibody. This can be associated with a malignancy, such as multiple myeloma, or, as is the case in up 3% of older adults, it may be present with no symptoms or organ damage (a condition called monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, or MGUS).

There is no clear association between antiphospholipid syndrome and monoclonal gammopathy although persons with autoimmune disease, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, may have both antiphospholipid syndrome and MGUS.

The amount of blockage in a coronary artery is only one factor that determines whether or not opening the artery with angioplasty and a stent is needed. For example, someone who has a totally blocked artery but has no chest pain or other heart symptoms does not necessarily need a stent. However, the ideal treatment for a heart attack (myocardial infarction) caused by a blood clot suddenly forming on a partially blocked artery is angioplasty with stent placement.

Many factors can contribute to a low red blood cell count, known as anemia. One of the most common reasons for anemia is iron deficiency, which can happen if a person does not consume enough dietary iron or losses iron because of bleeding. Vitamin B12, folic acid and other micronutrient deficiencies can cause anemia. In many chronic diseases, the bone marrow produces less than the normal number of red cells each day. These are just a few of more common factors that can contribute to anemia.

Amyloidosis is a condition in which certain proteins in the body do not fold properly making them accumulate in various organs. Most amyloidosis involving the heart is due to transthyretin amyloidosis or light chain amyloidosis.

Transthyretin is a protein made in the liver that carries thyroid hormone and vitamin A throughout the body. Light chains are normally part of the structure of antibodies.

When light chains or transthyretin proteins are present in excessive amounts or do not function normally, they can accumulate in heart tissue, impairing the heart’s ability to pump and causing the condition called cardiac amyloidosis.

Amyloidosis, including cardiac amyloidosis, is not considered an autoimmune disease. However, autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, may cause chronic inflammation that leads to light chain amyloidosis. Effective treatment of the autoimmune disease can prevent light chain amyloidosis.

A silent myocardial infarction is also known as a silent heart attack. It produces no symptoms, or only produce mild symptoms that are so unremarkable that people mistake them for something else, like heartburn or a chest muscle strain. People often don’t learn that they had a heart attack until they have an electrocardiogram (ECG), a stress test or an echocardiogram and the doctor notices signs consistent with heart damage. As in traditional symptomatic heart attacks, a silent heart attack involves a blockage of blood flow to the heart. This injures and scars part of the heart muscle, leaving behind telltale signs.

Heart attack symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, weakness and cold sweats can last as short as 15 minutes or be staggered over a couple days if untreated. Some people have such mild symptoms that they never realize they had a heart attack until they had an electrocardiogram or echocardiogram that shows heart damage. On the other hand, if a person with sudden formation of a blood clot in a coronary artery that causes a heart attack gets immediate treatment that opens the artery, he or she may be left with no signs of a heart attack.

Hashimoto’s disease, also called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system makes antibodies against the thyroid gland. The thyroid becomes inflamed. Initially the person may release extra thyroid hormone, but over time most people are left with an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism). Untreated hypothyroidism in women can make it harder for them to conceive.

Vegetables are not a common trigger for gout flares. However, “trigger foods” can vary from person to person.

 

Rarely, spinach, asparagus and cauliflower may set off gout flares. That’s why some experts recommend limiting intake of these vegetables for people with gout.

The foods and drinks most likely to cause a gout flare include:

• alcohol

• red meat, game meats or organ meats (such as sweetbreads or liver)

• foods or drinks with high fructose corn syrup (as in many carbonated beverages and candy)

• turkey

• seafood, such as shellfish, shrimp, or scallops

Glioblastoma multiforme is a fast-growing brain or spinal cord tumor. These tumors grow from glial cells which form the (supportive) tissue of the brain and spinal cord. Glioblastoma is one of the deadliest cancers. Average survival after diagnosis is about 15 months, with only a small percent of people surviving more than five years.

Glaucoma is an eye condition in which vision is lost because of damage to the optic nerve. There are two main types. The most common form of glaucoma is called primary open angle glaucoma, fluid circulates freely in the eye and the pressure tends to rise slowly over time. A less common form of the disease, called acute or angle closure glaucoma, develops suddenly and usually causes eye pain and redness. In this form of glaucoma, pressures rise quickly because normal fluid flow within the eye becomes blocked.