How does protein build-up cause different types of heart damage?

The pathophysiology of cardiac AL amyloidosis: phenotypic spectrum and clinical significance  

Amyloidosis of the heart occurs when abnormal protein molecules (amyloid) produced by bone marrow builds up in heart muscle. The amyloid causes stiffening of the heart muscle, interferes with the heart’s electrical system and reduces blood flow the heart. Chemotherapy is usually given to suppress the bone marrow, but people with this condition tend to have limited recovery and better treatments are urgently needed. Dr Fontana believes that it is the varied nature of the heart damage caused by amyloidosis in different people which makes successful treatment difficult. With this fellowship, she hopes to determine how the different types of heart damage occur in people with amyloidosis and work out which types of damage are most life-threatening. She plans to study more than 400 people with amyloidosis and will record detailed clinical information, such as the patterns of amyloid accumulation in the heart, the type and severity of the heart damage caused, their levels of white and red blood cells, how their condition deteriorates or improves over time, and their eventual cause of death. By linking all this information, she hopes to gain a better understanding of the disease that could make it possible, in future, to tailor treatment for each individual person.