Some thirty per cent of sufferers over fifty years of age will experience bleeding from some part of their digestive system. This can cause anaemia . Bulges on the lung vessels appear in thirty three per cent of all cases. Shortness of breath, especially when exercising, is also a common feature of the disease. A quarter of all patient's with Osler's disease are likely to cough up blood.
Brain aneurysms occur in ten per cent of people with the disease.
Some of these growths are harmless, but others can cause paralysis for short periods of time, epilepsy or brain damage due to bleeding. The doctor will conduct an external examination and ask questions about any possible family history of Osler's disease. The doctor may also look for changes in the lung's blood vessels, detectable by X-ray after an injection of a special fluid to make the vessels visible. It may not prove possible to treat the disease by treating the patient's genes, but future research is likely to improve the management of the symptoms. Doctors are trying to see if a single blood test will be enough to diagnose Osler's disease, but so far this is only possible in families where Osler's has already been diagnosed.