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His official blog seems to be overloaded with traffic right now, but his cousin posted earlier that James Rigney, the author of the Wheel of Time series, died earlier today after a year long fight against amyloidosis. Author Patrick Nielsen Hayden has a discussion on his blog. James Rigney was a good guy and his death is sad news for all of his fans. Not only was he a great author, he was a great patriot as well. He served in the army in Vietnam earning (from Wikipedia) the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star...

Geese force-fed and then slaughtered for their livers may get their final revenge on people who favour the delicacy known as foie gras: It may transmit a little-known disease known as amyloidosis, researchers reported. Tests on mice suggest the liver, popular in French cuisine which uses it to make pate de foie gras and other dishes, may cause the condition in animals that have a genetic susceptibility to such diseases, Alan Solomon of the University of Tennessee and colleagues reported. That would suggest that amyloidosis can be transmitted via food in a way akin to brain diseases such as creutzfeldt-jakob...

There are readers, and then there are fans. Readers offer condolences when a favorite author falls ill. Fans offer bone marrow. Robert Jordan, author of the best-selling Wheel of Time series, has fans. And if you want to understand them, take a look at his blog. Since last spring, when he announced he had a rare blood disease called amyloidosis, Jordan, 58, has been chronicling his life-and-death struggle online. Whenever he's well enough to write, he thanks the fans who sent care packages, and those who donated to the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn., where he is being treated. Then...

Dear Locus, I have been diagnosed with amyloidosis. That is a rare blood disease which affects only 8 people out of a million each year, and those 8 per million are divided among 22 distinct forms of amyloidosis. They are distinct enough that while some have no treatment at all, for the others, the treatment that works on one will have no effect whatsoever on any of the rest. An amyloid is a misshapen or misfolded protein that can be produced by various parts of the body and which may deposit in other parts of the body (nerves or organs)...

A desperately ill doctor bets on a miracle Sunday, September 26, 2004 First of four partsOne patient was on the table and another was in the next exam room when the phone rang for Dr. Robert Manzi, a Ridgefield internist. He took it in the hallway and said, "Hi, Joe, what's up?"It was his kidney specialist, a colleague at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, calling with results from Manzi's biopsy. Manzi hoped to find out why he'd been losing weight, feeling tired, and seeing suds in his urine."Bob,'' the specialist said, "you have primary systemic amyloidosis.''Manzi had read a brief...

Please pray for my Dad, diagnosed this week with Amyloidosis with Restrictive Cardiomyopathy. You may never have heard of it. Most Cardiologists will never see a case. He’s 66 and until recently, a healthy, active retiree. He began experiencing weakness, breathlessness and severe swelling. Doctors ran several tests but could not find a cause. They knew his heart was not functioning properly due to excessive pressure. In January, they removed his Pericardium. He felt better for a few months but then his symptoms returned. Walking to the end of the driveway wiped him out. The Doctor found that his heart...