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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffAnyone can develop primary amyloidosis, but certain factors place you at greater risk:
- Age. The majority of people who develop amyloidosis are older than 40.
- Other diseases. You may be at increased risk if you have a chronic infectious or inflammatory disease. Up to 15 percent of people who have multiple myeloma — a form of bone marrow cancer — also develop amyloidosis.
- Family history. Some cases of amyloidosis are inherited.
- Kidney dialysis. If you have kidney disease requiring kidney dialysis, you have an increased risk of dialysis-associated amyloidosis. This is because dialysis can't remove large proteins from the blood, so large, abnormal proteins may build up and deposit in surrounding tissues. This condition is less common with modern dialysis techniques.
References
- Seldin DC, et al. Amyloidosis. In: Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 17th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw Hill Medical; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2863105. Accessed June 11, 2009.
- Amyloidosis. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec12/ch160/ch160a.html. Accessed June 12, 2009.
- Gertz MA, et al. Amyloidosis. Best Practice & Research Clinical Haematology. 2005;18:709.
- Amyloidosis and kidney disease. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/Amyloidosis/. Accessed June 12, 2009.
- Gorevic PD. An overview of amyloidosis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed June 12, 2009.
- Dember LM. Modern treatment of amyloidosis: Unresolved questions. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. 2009;20:469.
- Merlini G. Amyloidosis: Is a cure possible? Annals of Oncology. 2008;19(suppl):iv63.
- Jaccard A. High-dose melphalan versus melphalan plus dexamethasone for AL amyloidosis. New England Journal of Medicine. 2007;357:1083.
