Find information on thousands of medical conditions and prescription drugs.

Acute intermittent porphyria

Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) is a rare metabolic disorder that is characterized by a deficiency of the enzyme, porphobilinogen deaminase (PBG-D), also known as uroporphyrinogen I-synthase. This enzyme deficiency results in the accumulation of porphyrins or porphyrin precursors in the body. These are natural chemicals that normally do not accumulate in the body. This enzyme deficiency by itself is not sufficient to produce symptoms of the disease (latent). more...

Home
Diseases
A
Aagenaes syndrome
Aarskog Ose Pande syndrome
Aarskog syndrome
Aase Smith syndrome
Aase syndrome
ABCD syndrome
Abdallat Davis Farrage...
Abdominal aortic aneurysm
Abdominal cystic...
Abdominal defects
Ablutophobia
Absence of Gluteal muscle
Acalvaria
Acanthocheilonemiasis
Acanthocytosis
Acarophobia
Acatalasemia
Accessory pancreas
Achalasia
Achard syndrome
Achard-Thiers syndrome
Acheiropodia
Achondrogenesis
Achondrogenesis type 1A
Achondrogenesis type 1B
Achondroplasia
Achondroplastic dwarfism
Achromatopsia
Acid maltase deficiency
Ackerman syndrome
Acne
Acne rosacea
Acoustic neuroma
Acquired ichthyosis
Acquired syphilis
Acrofacial dysostosis,...
Acromegaly
Acrophobia
Acrospiroma
Actinomycosis
Activated protein C...
Acute febrile...
Acute intermittent porphyria
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Acute lymphocytic leukemia
Acute mountain sickness
Acute myelocytic leukemia
Acute myelogenous leukemia
Acute necrotizing...
Acute promyelocytic leukemia
Acute renal failure
Acute respiratory...
Acute tubular necrosis
Adams Nance syndrome
Adams-Oliver syndrome
Addison's disease
Adducted thumb syndrome...
Adenoid cystic carcinoma
Adenoma
Adenomyosis
Adenosine deaminase...
Adenosine monophosphate...
Adie syndrome
Adrenal incidentaloma
Adrenal insufficiency
Adrenocortical carcinoma
Adrenogenital syndrome
Adrenoleukodystrophy
Aerophobia
Agoraphobia
Agrizoophobia
Agyrophobia
Aicardi syndrome
Aichmophobia
AIDS
AIDS Dementia Complex
Ainhum
Albinism
Albright's hereditary...
Albuminurophobia
Alcaptonuria
Alcohol fetopathy
Alcoholic hepatitis
Alcoholic liver cirrhosis
Alektorophobia
Alexander disease
Alien hand syndrome
Alkaptonuria
Alliumphobia
Alopecia
Alopecia areata
Alopecia totalis
Alopecia universalis
Alpers disease
Alpha 1-antitrypsin...
Alpha-mannosidosis
Alport syndrome
Alternating hemiplegia
Alzheimer's disease
Amaurosis
Amblyopia
Ambras syndrome
Amelogenesis imperfecta
Amenorrhea
American trypanosomiasis
Amoebiasis
Amyloidosis
Amyotrophic lateral...
Anaphylaxis
Androgen insensitivity...
Anemia
Anemia, Diamond-Blackfan
Anemia, Pernicious
Anemia, Sideroblastic
Anemophobia
Anencephaly
Aneurysm
Aneurysm
Aneurysm of sinus of...
Angelman syndrome
Anguillulosis
Aniridia
Anisakiasis
Ankylosing spondylitis
Ankylostomiasis
Annular pancreas
Anorchidism
Anorexia nervosa
Anosmia
Anotia
Anthophobia
Anthrax disease
Antiphospholipid syndrome
Antisocial personality...
Antithrombin deficiency,...
Anton's syndrome
Aortic aneurysm
Aortic coarctation
Aortic dissection
Aortic valve stenosis
Apert syndrome
Aphthous stomatitis
Apiphobia
Aplastic anemia
Appendicitis
Apraxia
Arachnoiditis
Argininosuccinate...
Argininosuccinic aciduria
Argyria
Arnold-Chiari malformation
Arrhythmogenic right...
Arteriovenous malformation
Arteritis
Arthritis
Arthritis, Juvenile
Arthrogryposis
Arthrogryposis multiplex...
Asbestosis
Ascariasis
Aseptic meningitis
Asherman's syndrome
Aspartylglycosaminuria
Aspergillosis
Asphyxia neonatorum
Asthenia
Asthenia
Asthenophobia
Asthma
Astrocytoma
Ataxia telangiectasia
Atelectasis
Atelosteogenesis, type II
Atherosclerosis
Athetosis
Atopic Dermatitis
Atrial septal defect
Atrioventricular septal...
Atrophy
Attention Deficit...
Autoimmune hepatitis
Autoimmune...
Automysophobia
Autonomic dysfunction
Familial Alzheimer disease
Senescence
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Medicines

Additional factors must also be present such as hormones, drugs and dietary changes that trigger the appearance of symptoms. Symptoms of AIP may include abdominal pain, constipation, and muscle weakness.

AIP is one of a group of disorders known as the porphyrias. The common feature in all porphyrias is the excess accumulation in the body of porphyrins or porphyrin precursors. Different types of porphyrias are characterized by the accumulation of different types of porphyrin chemicals.

Porphyrias can also be classified into two groups: the "hepatic" and "erythropoietic" types. In the hepatic types of porphyria, porphyrins and related substances originate in excess amounts from the liver; in the erythropoietic types, they originate mostly from the bone marrow.

The porphyrias with skin manifestations are sometimes called "cutaneous porphyrias." The "acute porphyrias" are characterized by sudden attacks of pain, especially abdominal pain, and other neurological symptoms. These acute symptoms may be severe and often rapidly appear. An individual may be considered latent if he or she has the characteristic enzyme deficiency but has never developed symptoms. There can be a wide spectrum of severity between the latent and active cases of any particular type of porphyria. The symptoms and treatments of the different types of porphyrias are not the same.

Read more at Wikipedia.org


[List your site here Free!]


Dobson's Complaint: The Story of the Chester Porphyria - Review
From British Medical Journal, 1/30/99 by Helen Crimlisk

Dobson's Complaint: The Story of the Chester Porphyria Ed Giles R Youngs

Royal College of Physicians, 18.50 [pounds sterling], pp 200 ISBN 1 86016 047 6

Rating: ***

There are many aspects of medical disorders that fascinate doctors: the application of the latest scientific techniques, complex biochemical mechanisms, the detective work involved in teasing out a complex history, the personal strengths that emerge when tragedy strikes, and the thrill of finding a new disorder. This book covers all these features and more about one of the rarer variants of porphyria--Chester porphyria, which results from a combination of the deficits found in the commoner acute intermittent porphyria and variegate porphyria. Although concentrating on this variant, the book also provides an overview of the porphyrias in general.

Giles Youngs, a physician in Chester, tells the story of the painstaking work of himself and his past juniors (who have contributed to many aspects of the research in this book). They traced back members of the 300 strong Cheshire kindred affected by this condition to the marriage of a Dee salmon fisherman in 1888. Youngs is brutally honest about how he was initially shamed by one of the family--who clearly knew more than he did about the nature of the curse responsible for wiping out large swathes of her family--into starting his mammoth task, which clearly became a labour of love as time progressed. He pays due debt to the doctors who preceded him, in particular to Dr Zorka Bekerus, who in 1965 was the first to recognise the uniqueness of this variant of porphyria.

The monograph is comprehensive in its coverage of all the aspects of this disorder. Individual chapters stand alone--indeed, several are transcripts of previously published work--and this inevitably leads to a degree of repetition and some contradiction. Nevertheless, the advantage of this arrangement is that the book can easily be browsed and used as a reference for the genetics and biochemistry of this disorder as well as the clinical features. These include neurological and psychiatric disturbances, hyponatraemia, and the hypertension and renal failure that have been responsible for so much of the mortality in the Chester kindred.

Youngs has traced the death certificates and case notes of long dead members of the families, identifying with the benefit of hind-sight the errors made by previous generations of doctors. He avoids, however, any sense of triumphalism and never loses sight of the personal tragedy that obviously still haunts the family.

My only criticism is that no room was found for the family's voice. As with porphyria kindreds elsewhere, morbidity and mortality have been reduced by better diagnostic techniques, avoidance of precipitants (especially barbiturates and other drugs), and treatment of accompanying hypertension. However, family members continue to live with the burden of a rare genetic disorder, one described as the "little imitator" because of the multitude of symptoms, which often led sufferers to be misdiagnosed as "hysterics" With this background, they must have a fascinating perspective, which would have complemented this enthralling book.

Helen Crimlisk, trainee in child psychiatry, University of Marburg, Germany

COPYRIGHT 1999 British Medical Association
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group

Return to Acute intermittent porphyria
Home Contact Resources Exchange Links ebay