“Over the past 50 years, heart failure has become one of the fastest-growing cardiac killers. It was long considered a disease of aging, caused by gradual yet unavoidable changes to the heart. But doctors are now discovering that about 15 percent of cases are caused by a rogue protein called amyloid, perhaps best known for its role in Alzheimer’s. While one type tangles neurons in the brain, others infiltrate the heart, making the muscle stiff and less able to pump blood.

Until recently, cardiac amyloidosis was a death sentence, but the advent of new medications, including two approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the past year, has made this disease increasingly manageable.”

From New York Times.