Porphyria Quiz

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Reviewed By:

Caroline M. Doan, DO

Caroline M. Doan, DO (Internal medicine)

Dr. Doan received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from UCLA. Prior to obtaining her medical degree, she was involved in oncology clinical research at City of Hope, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in southern California. She attended medical school at Touro University California, and completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. She is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and holds an active medical license in several states. She currently works as a physician for Signify Health providing home-based health care.

Yoshinori Abe, MD

Yoshinori Abe, MD (Internal medicine)

Dr. Abe graduated from The University of Tokyo School of Medicine in 2015. He completed his residency at the Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Longevity Medical Center. He co-founded Ubie, Inc. in May 2017, where he currently serves as CEO & product owner at Ubie. Since December 2019, he has been a member of the Special Committee for Activation of Research in Emergency AI of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine. | | Dr. Abe has been elected in the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Healthcare & Science category.

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With an easy 3-min questionnaire, Ubie's AI-powered system will generate a free report on possible causes.

  • Trained and reviewed by 50+ doctors, our AI Symptom Checker utilizes data from 1,500+ medical centers

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  • Porphyria as well as similar diseases can be checked at the same time.

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People with similar symptoms also use Ubie's symptom checker to find possible causes

  • Feel anxiety suddenly

  • Felt nauseous then fainted

  • One eye won't close completely

  • Sweating followed by fainting

  • Fainting followed by a headache

  • Discolored macules or moles on skin/mucus membranes

  • Corner of the mouth does not rise

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Learn more about Porphyria

Content updated on Sep 20, 2022

What is porphyria?

Porphyrias are a group of inherited or acquired disorders caused by a buildup of natural chemicals that produce porphyrin in the body. Porphyrins are necessary for hemoglobin function. Common triggers include drugs (birth control pills, sedatives, etc.), fasting, smoking, drinking alcohol, infections, emotional and physical stress, hormonal imbalance, and sun exposure.

Symptoms of porphyria

  • Losing consciousness

  • Unable to move my face

  • Black/blue/brown spots or moles, on the skin and lining of the mouth

  • Ulcers over the genitals

  • Redness in sun-exposed areas of skin

  • Excessive hair growth on the body

  • Decrease in urine volume

  • Blisters

Questions your doctor may ask to check for porphyria

Your doctor may ask these questions to diagnose porphyria

  • Have you currently regained consciousness after temporarily losing consciousness?

  • Do you have difficulty controlling the muscles of your face?

  • Are there black, blue, or brown spots on the skin or elsewhere? (Including moles)

  • Do you have sores or erosion in your private area?

  • Do you have redness on the sun-exposed areas of your skin?

Treatment for porphyria

Treatment depends on the type and severity of porphyria and involves avoiding triggers, medications to limit the body's production of porphyrins, medication to reduce acute symptoms, and drawing out blood to reduce iron in the body.

View the symptoms of Porphyria

References

  • Ramanujam VS, Anderson KE. Porphyria Diagnostics-Part 1: A Brief Overview of the Porphyrias. Curr Protoc Hum Genet. 2015 Jul 1;86:17.20.1-17.20.26. doi: 10.1002/0471142905.hg1720s86. PMID: 26132003; PMCID: PMC4640448.

    https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/0471142905.hg1720s86

  • Suh Y, Gandhi J, Seyam O, Jiang W, Joshi G, Smith NL, Ali Khan S. Neurological and neuropsychiatric manifestations of porphyria. Int J Neurosci. 2019 Dec;129(12):1226-1233. doi: 10.1080/00207454.2019.1655014. Epub 2019 Sep 1. PMID: 31402774.

    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00207454.2019.1655014

  • Szlendak U, Bykowska K, Lipniacka A. Clinical, Biochemical and Molecular Characteristics of the Main Types of Porphyria. Adv Clin Exp Med. 2016 Mar-Apr;25(2):361-8. doi: 10.17219/acem/58955. PMID: 27627571.

    https://advances.umw.edu.pl/en/article/2016/25/2/361/

  • O'Malley R, Rao G, Stein P, Bandmann O. Porphyria: often discussed but too often missed. Pract Neurol. 2018 Oct;18(5):352-358. doi: 10.1136/practneurol-2017-001878. Epub 2018 Mar 14. PMID: 29540448.

    https://pn.bmj.com/content/18/5/352

User testimonials

Reviewed By:

Caroline M. Doan, DO

Caroline M. Doan, DO (Internal medicine)

Dr. Doan received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from UCLA. Prior to obtaining her medical degree, she was involved in oncology clinical research at City of Hope, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in southern California. She attended medical school at Touro University California, and completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. She is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and holds an active medical license in several states. She currently works as a physician for Signify Health providing home-based health care.

Yoshinori Abe, MD

Yoshinori Abe, MD (Internal medicine)

Dr. Abe graduated from The University of Tokyo School of Medicine in 2015. He completed his residency at the Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Longevity Medical Center. He co-founded Ubie, Inc. in May 2017, where he currently serves as CEO & product owner at Ubie. Since December 2019, he has been a member of the Special Committee for Activation of Research in Emergency AI of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine. | | Dr. Abe has been elected in the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Healthcare & Science category.

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Charles Carlson, DO, MS

Charles Carlson, DO, MS

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