Antiphospholipid Syndrome

[Lhrlovesmar]

Is  anyone else out there who has been diagnosed with Antiphospholipid Syndrome?

[Monkeyjack]

My wife was diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome 8-9 years ago. She suffers from memory loss, tia's, mini seizures, fatigue, numbness, changes in vision, confusion, depression, and more.

I'm up at 4:30 in the morning looking for any new information. Her condition is getting much worse with more frequent seizures where she will just "zone out." She has changed so much since I married her. At this point, I'm at a loss and have no idea what to do to make her better.

[SBF]

Hi Lhr,
APS can be a very complex autoimmune condition, seen primarily in women (9-1), that's being studied along with Lupus and other autoimmune diseases.  Patients may manifest with diverse symptoms and should be tested for lupus anticoagulant (LAC) and anticardiolipin (aCL) antibodies.

Most patients have LAC and aCL immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies and the diagnosis requires the presence of clinical and biological features.  In recent studies the use of synthetically created peptides that focus on neutralizing the damaging anti-b2GPI antibodies may represent a possible therapeutic approach to treating APS.  

Neurologic or imaging studies should be performed based on the presence of Central Nervous System symptoms, usually involving a CT or MRI scan and daily treatment with low-dose aspirin may be considered appropriate if there are indications of clotting abnormalities or stroke.

Infectious agents are thought to trigger the autoantibody production but may also induce an inflammatory process that eventually favors clotting. The role of inflammation in APS could indicate environmental triggers or a genetic susceptibility, but is still unknown.