FoBoT
06-14-2004, 02:03 PM
(AAT Deficiency or Alpha-1)
my dad has been having trouble with his lungs/mild exertion and his voice is rather raspy/labored, after seeing several doctors, they found out he has a genetic problem
to have the severe form of this, as my father does, both your parents have to have the recessive gene. my mother is going to get tested soon. it is unlikely she is also a carrier of the gene, but if she is, i'll have to get tested also, as i would then be likely to have this problem at some point. (further reading suggests it can cause problems as early as 40's, so i am not too far from that)
What is Alpha-1? (http://www.alphaone.org/alpha1/what_is_alpha1.html)
my grandfather died of what they thought was emphysema at the time (late 1970's) , he died fairly young, in his early sixties. he worked in construction (highways) and smoked when he was younger, so at the time they figured his lung failure was due to those environmental factors. they didn't know about this genetic problem back then , but in retrospect, it is likely what killed him.
my mom said there is a treatment, intravenous protein augmentation therapy, i think this is similar to a blood transfusion, my dad will have to have a weekly treatement that takes 1-2 hours, but they can do it at home.
his insurance has approved him for 52 weeks of this treatment. i don't know how it helps, whether it will stop the progress of his lung degeneration or if it might improve his lungs/regenerate the loss of function. i need to do some more reading on the web site (linked above)
my dad is a bit of a "health food nut" , so i always figured he would live into his 80's or 90's (his mother is 92)
:(
Lung disease is the most frequent cause of disability and early death among affected persons – striking in the prime of life -- and a major reason for lung transplants.
i need to find out if any of the DC projects (probably protein folding ?) have any relation to this disorder
my dad has been having trouble with his lungs/mild exertion and his voice is rather raspy/labored, after seeing several doctors, they found out he has a genetic problem
to have the severe form of this, as my father does, both your parents have to have the recessive gene. my mother is going to get tested soon. it is unlikely she is also a carrier of the gene, but if she is, i'll have to get tested also, as i would then be likely to have this problem at some point. (further reading suggests it can cause problems as early as 40's, so i am not too far from that)
What is Alpha-1? (http://www.alphaone.org/alpha1/what_is_alpha1.html)
my grandfather died of what they thought was emphysema at the time (late 1970's) , he died fairly young, in his early sixties. he worked in construction (highways) and smoked when he was younger, so at the time they figured his lung failure was due to those environmental factors. they didn't know about this genetic problem back then , but in retrospect, it is likely what killed him.
my mom said there is a treatment, intravenous protein augmentation therapy, i think this is similar to a blood transfusion, my dad will have to have a weekly treatement that takes 1-2 hours, but they can do it at home.
his insurance has approved him for 52 weeks of this treatment. i don't know how it helps, whether it will stop the progress of his lung degeneration or if it might improve his lungs/regenerate the loss of function. i need to do some more reading on the web site (linked above)
my dad is a bit of a "health food nut" , so i always figured he would live into his 80's or 90's (his mother is 92)
:(
Lung disease is the most frequent cause of disability and early death among affected persons – striking in the prime of life -- and a major reason for lung transplants.
i need to find out if any of the DC projects (probably protein folding ?) have any relation to this disorder