Technology and science
February 20, 2023 at 12:57 pm
Photo: Reuters/Simon Dawson | The main source of concern is the mortality rate: up to half of those diagnosed die within five years.
A newly discovered disease shows disappointing statistics, while not having methods of treatment and prevention.
VEXAS was only identified by doctors in 2020, so it’s understandable that most people haven’t heard of it. It’s far more common than researchers thought, and that’s not the only scary part.
Researchers estimate that 15,500 people in the US over the age of 50 suffer from this syndrome, whose symptoms typically include unexplained fever, pneumonia, myeloma (plasma cell cancer), arthritis, vasculitis, low blood oxygen, and more.
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VEXAS stands for: Vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X-linked, Auto-inflammatory and Somatic. It usually affects adults, mostly men, and most of the symptoms of the disease develop between the ages of 50 and 70. The main source of concern about VEJAS is the high mortality rate, with up to half of those diagnosed dying within five years. Researchers believe that VEHAS is the prototype of a new type of disease that humanity will face.
The study’s principal investigator, Dr. David Beck, said in a press release that now that VEXAS is known to occur more frequently than many other types of rheumatic diseases, in one in 4,000 men, doctors should add the condition to their list of potential diagnoses. when faced with patients with persistent and unexplained inflammation and low blood cell counts or anemia.
The research team that published their findings analyzed blood samples from more than 160,000 men and women over 50 to look for a mutation in the UBA1 gene that researchers believe causes the syndrome.
Beck said that VEHAS is present in one in 4,000 men over 50, so this condition should be considered when you see people who have all the symptoms. Men are more vulnerable because the UBA1 gene is on the X chromosome. Men have only one X chromosome, while women have two, and usually do not suffer from such diseases, unless a mutation has occurred in both sex chromosomes.
Although it is believed to be caused by a genetic mutation in the UBA1 gene, the disease is not transmitted to children, i.e. is not hereditary. While there is no cure or even standard treatment for this syndrome, the symptoms can be treated right now with a variety of medications.
Previously Focus wrote about the dangers of frosty weather. From immune system effects and heart attacks to anxiety and depression, researchers have voiced the risks.
