Confusion during acute attacks

What's UP Doc?
Written By Dr. Karl Anderson

What's UP Doc? Is a regular column where we feature a patient question along with a response from a member of the UPA Scientific Advisory Board.

I have Variegate Porphyria – why am I confused during an attack?

This week our response was provided by Dr. Karl Anderson, Porphyria Expert at UTMB.

Confusion, and other symptoms, are all part of the neurological symptoms of acute hepatic porphyrias. We don’t really know the mechanism.

To learn more about participating in research so we can better understand the symptoms of an acute attack, please contact the UPA. We will connect you with a Porphyria Center.

Thank you to Dr. Anderson for this What's UP Doc? answer! Do you have a question for a porphyria expert? Send it to info@porphyria.org.

 

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Dr. Karl Anderson

Dr. Anderson is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, completed residency in internal medicine at Vanderbilt University Hospital and the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, followed by training in gastroenterology also at Cornell. He was a member of the faculty at the Rockefeller University, Cornell University Medical College and New York Medical College before coming to the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 1987, where he is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine (Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology).

He directs the Porphyria Laboratory and Center at UTMB, which is part of the NIH-supported Porphyrias Consortium. He is an active clinical investigator with support from the NIH, FDA, foundations and industry. His research focusses on the human porphyrias and their treatment.

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