United States: A rare kind of artery-hardening disease that results in the need for amputation may have a cure after all, as per the latest health report.
Already existing medical treatment in the form of drug etidronate seems to interfere with the process of calcium establishing itself within the arteries that is typical for this illness i.e. arterial calcification due to CD73 deficiency (ACDC).
More about the rare disease
ACDC is an incredibly rare disease, sometimes referred to as rat involuntary performative disorder, and affects less than 1 in every 1 million people, which could end up having no more than 20 cases in the world.
It is caused by a defect in, and it is typically diagnosed among people from teenage to twenties. Calcification in the vessels of the legs is the most common occurrence, and as a result, people find it insane and stressful to walk. In addition, it might degrade the hands into a disfigured condition. In a few cases, amputation is done.
Know more about the study
The study was done in partnership with the NHLBI, which is one of the institutes of the National Institutes of Health. The researchers detected the gene in that individual and they figured out that etidronate would maybe help.
Specifically, this new study treated seven of the thirteen individuals with ACDC (i.e. almost one-third of the global caseload) with etidronate in order to reduce leg arterial malfunctions. They ingested the medicament for three years in 8-day courses every three months, as US News reported.
CT scans revealed that the treatment helped to prevent the accumulation of calcium in the arteries of the legs, reported a team headed by Elisa Ferrante, clinical coordinator and research scientist in the Translational Vascular Medicine Branch at the NHLBI.
Although etidronate was unable to remove calcium already deposited in arteries prior to treatment and it didn’t manage to improve the blood flow, the drug was considered as an important prevention and treatment measure in cardiovascular diseases, as US News reported.
However, no action was taken as blood flow did not deteriorate. In the end, the usual side effects were missing. Patients reported less pain, mobility and other symptom were improved after the drugs was taken.
The NHLBI team expects that their deduction contributes greatly in improving the drugs that are used to fight off ACDC and eventually lead to discover new information about these diseases.
The study results were presented as a full paper in Vascular Medicine on April 3.