Transthyretin is one of a small number of proteins that can misfold and aggregate to cause pathology in tissues, primarily the cardiovascular system, but other organs as well once aggregation becomes very severe. Despite being a universal mechanism that operates in all older individuals, transthyretin amyloidosis is presently treated as a rare condition by the medical, development, and regulatory communities, because only the most severe cases exhibit evident symptoms that are easily diagnosed. Of those patients diagnosed, some have mutations that drive misfolding and aggregation of transthyretin, while some are simply the most severe examples of what is actually a prevalent issue in later later. Evidence from studies involving post-mortem examinations of tissues suggest that many very old people exhibit a degree of transthyretin amyloidosis that is in principle life-threatening, capable of contributing to cardiovascular mortality.
