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Sticky Blood Explained
Foreword by Munther A Khamashta MD, FRCP
The description by Graham Hughes of the "antiphospholipid syndrome" or Hughes Syndrome
is one of the medical landmarks of the 20 th Century.
There is something of a fashion in science to play down "clinical" discoveries as
being somehow less ground-breaking than "basic" laboratory based observations.
Here is a disease, a medical discovery, which should turn such fashions around.
Ina series of brilliant clinical observations, Dr Hughes, not only pieced together
what is now clearly a common and important disease, but also, with his team, set
up the blood tests and treatment guidelines, which are used world-wide.
In a series of clinical articles in the early 1980s, Dr Hughes and his team described
the headaches, the miscarriages, the clotting tendency, the effect on platelets,
the strokes, the memory loss... . And almost all the clinical picture now recognized
as a distinct syndrome.
This was not an anecdotal observation. It was a prime example of meticulous clinical
observation and dogged determination. Hughes Syndrome is now recognised as a major
"new" disease. It has been described, by my colleague, Dr Josep Font of Barcelona,
as "one of the 2 new diseases (with AIDS) of the 20 th century".
Despite being 20 years old, and being of major importance in the diagnosis of strokes,
migraines, multiple sclerosis and miscarriage, the syndrome is still under diagnosed
by doctors.
What about patients? Imagine the "double insult" of suffering a potentially dangerous
(and potentially treatable!) disease, which the doctor has never heard of. In my
weekly special pregnancy clinic at St. Thomas Hospital, I regularly see patients
whose previous symptoms have gone undiagnosed, not to mention their, often multiple,
pregnancy losses.
It is for these reasons above all, that I welcome a book such as this.
Kay Thackray has, with this volume, made an important contribution to the understanding
of this syndrome.
The messages are simple. Blood clots can cause untold damage. The tendency to "sticky
blood" found in Hughes Syndrome can be diagnosed by simple blood tests. The use
of medicines, some as simple as aspirin, can protect against the clotting tendency.
Kay Thackray here provides just the sort of clear guidance patients with Hughes
Syndrome need. Coming from a patient, and coming straight from the heart, I believe
that the lessons provided by this book are beyond value.
Munther A Khamashta MD, FRCP Consultant Physician, Lupus Unit St. Thomas ´
Hospital, London
And
More Sticky Blood
Foreword by Dr Graham R V Hughes MD FRCP
Although it is over twenty years since Hughes syndrome was described, it is clear
that many, many patients go undiagnosed. As the "sticky blood" phenomenon of Hughes
syndrome can affect every organ, it is not uncommon for a patient to be seen by
a variety of doctors - a cardiologist for chest pain, for example, a neurologist
for suspected multiple sclerosis, a general practitioner for fatigue and aches and
pains - all possibly missing clinical clues such as the long history of migraine,
the miscarriages 15 years previously, the memory loss and difficulty in finding
words, the family history of stroke and thrombosis...
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