A woman has shared her story of being diagnosed with one of the world's rarest heart diseases aged 21. Alicia Fairclough, who is now 23, lives with a condition called Taakayasu's arteritis. It is a chronic inflammatory illness that affects the largest blood vessel in the body - the aorta - and its branches.
It isn't curable, but it is treatable. Takayasu arteritis is a very rare disease and its reported worldwide incidence rate is only one to two per million. According to studies , the majority are females.
Alicia says her diagnosis all began two years ago when she suffered from a urinary tract infection. She says her water infection then turned into a kidney infection. Taking to her TikTok account, the 23-year-old, from Liverpool, explains: "Long story short, I had to go to A&E to have antibiotics - but that's where the story starts.
" She then went on to give some background information about her previous medical battles. "Just for a bit of context, I have a condition called hypothyroidism and I've had that since I was 17. So, I get regular blood tests.
" According to the NHS , an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism) is where your thyroid gland does not produce enough hormones. Symptoms can include tiredness, weight gain, a puffy-looking face, thinned or partly missing eyebrows, slow movements and thoughts, constipation and depression. Thanks to Alicia's regular blood tests, her doctor was able to notice her inflammation markers were "super high".
She says this was init.