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VEXAS syndrome has alarmed doctors in the United States.

The disease was discovered in 2020 by scientists from the Grossman Institute at New York University.

Currently, 2,300 women and 13,200 men over the age of 50 in the United States have VEXAS syndrome, an uncommon condition with an alarmingly high mortality rate.

Up to half of VEXAS patients die within five years of diagnosis.

People with other diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and blood cancers, often experience low blood oxygen levels and fevers that seem unexplained.

Inflammation can be caused by an overactive immune system, which is associated with some VEXAS symptoms.

In view of this, medical specialists classify the disease as autoimmune, they write in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Scientists hope that awareness of the disease will increase among medical professionals.

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Patients with VEXAS syndrome have responded well to bone marrow transplantation and high-dose steroids.

Earlier studies linked the mutation of the UBA1 gene to VEXAS syndrome, which is caused by a change in DNA coding.

Normally, this enzyme helps break down proteins.

Many of its biological features are represented by the word "VEXAS" - vacuoles in blood cells, enzyme E1, X-linked, autoinflammatory and somatic, reports Bulgaria ON AIR.

The authors of the latest study examined the electronic health records of 163,096 Pennsylvanians, the majority of whom were Caucasian.

They have all given their consent to have their DNA tested for hereditary diseases.

12 individuals had a UBA1 mutation and all of them had VEXAS.

According to statistics, one in 26,238 adult women and one in 4,269 adult American men (over the age of 50) either already have the syndrome or are likely to develop it.

The study authors emphasize that these numbers are greater than those for several other inflammatory diseases, including vasculitis and myeloid dysplasia syndrome.

USA

a deadly disease