Another name for stiff heart syndrome is cardiac amyloidosis, which is also sometimes called amyloid heart disease and is a condition that occurs when abnormal protein deposits, called amyloid buildup in your heart muscle and cause the heart muscle to become stiff and thick, which results in impaired heart function.
A stiff heart is serious and can lead to heart failure and even death, especially if left untreated.
A stiff heart occurs when your heart muscle becomes too rigid to relax and fill with blood as it properly should.
A stiff heart also struggles to pump the blood as effectively as it needs to, which can result in a buildup of fluid in your lungs and other parts of your body.
If your heart cannot pump enough blood to meet your body's needs, it can result in heart failure, which is a serious condition that requires ongoing management.
Stiff heart syndrome can also be associated with other heart problems such as atrial fibrillation, "an irregular heartbeat", heart valve issues or even an increased risk of blood clots and the stiff heart condition can also progress and get worse over time, and symptoms can get worse if left untreated and it can even potentially lead to death.
The drug for treating stiff heart syndrome is Attruby also known as acoramidis, which was approved by the FDA on November 2th 2024.
Attruby is a transthyretin stabilizer which helps to reduce death and hospitalization that is related to heart problems in people with wild type or variant ATTR-CM.
Attruby or Acoramidis works by stabilizing the transthyretin protein and prevents it from misfolding and aggregating in the heart muscle.
The reason why the heart stiffens with age is a result of a combination of factors that affect both the blood vessels that supply the heart and the heart muscle.
The changes that cause the heart to stiffen with age are thickening of the heart muscle, stiffening of the arteries and alterations in the extracellular matrix which surround the heart cells.
The changes that occur as you age, reduce your heart's ability to relax and fill with blood as effectively as it should normally do, which results in a decline in overall function of the heart.
As you age, the arteries tend to become less elastic and more rigid, which is a process that is called arteriosclerosis, which is partly due to the buildup of calcium deposits and changes in the composition of the artery walls, most particularly the extracellular matrix.
And stiff arteries increase the resistance to blood flow, which make it harder for your heart to pump blood out into the circulatory system and the increased resistance can result in high blood pressure, which also contributes further to the thickening and stiffening of your heart muscle.
The life expectancy of a person with a stiff heart is 10 years and sometimes longer.
Life expectancy of people with a stiff heart also varies significantly and depends on the type of and stage of the stiff heart condition as well as any treatments effectiveness.
Untreated stiff heart syndrome or cardiac amyloidosis can be life threatening and some forms can also lead to death within months.
You can often improve a stiff heart through daily walking and twice weekly strength training, which also improves cardiovascular health.
Medications like Entresto and Sacubitril/valsartan are also available to help improve a stiff heart.
Exercising 4 to 5 times a week, over the course of 2 years has been shown to reverse stiffening of the heart in some people.
A stiff heart is pretty rare especially due to conditions like cardiac amyloidosis or restrictive cardiomyopathy.
Although recent advancements in diagnosis now suggest that some types of cardiac amyloidosis might be more prevalent than it was previously thought.
As people age, it's pretty common to see and have some degree of heart muscle stiffening, although it doesn't always result in significant health problems.
The symptoms of stiff heart syndrome are shortness of breath, fatigue and weakness, swelling in the legs and ankles, irregular heartbeat and chest pain or discomfort.
Shortness of breath can occur with stiff heart syndrome, especially during physical activity or when laying down.
Fatigue and weakness with stiff heart syndrome is caused by your heart's inability to pump enough blood to your body.
Swelling in your legs and ankles with stiff heart syndrome is a result of fluid retention due to heart failure.
Irregular heartbeat with stiff heart syndrome is abnormal heart rhythms which can occur due to the stiffening of your heart muscle and it's impact on the electrical signals.
Chest pain and discomfort can be experienced with stiff heart syndrome as a result of your heart's inability to function properly.
Stiff Heart Syndrome is a condition, in which your heart muscle becomes stiff and less flexible, which makes it hard for your heart to fill with blood between heartbeats.
The stiff heart syndrome can result in heart failure and other complications.
The causes of stiff heart syndrome are amyloidois, hyperthyroidism, blood clotting disorders and systemic autoimmune diseases as well as genetic factors.
A buildup of amyloid protein in your heart muscle is the major cause of stiff heart syndrome, which leads to cardiac amyloidosis.