Schleroderma Research Paper

“Growth factors, also called cytokins, are peptides that transmit within and between cells. They have a major role in the regulation of tissue growth and development” (McCance & Huether, pg. 35).

Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease where the immune system is activated to attack myelin in the CNS. In regards to Multiple Sclerosis I believe it is the medical neurologist role to do proper diagnosing. In regards to MS it’s important to complete a MRI of the brain and/or spinal cord to discover if there are scars or plaques in the images. The CSF would demonstrate an abnormality in the immunology (Grant &Adam, 2009). It would also be fundamental to educate the patient on the symptoms they may experience that can vary from patient to patient. Symptoms would include bladder problems, weakness, visual symptoms, tremors, fatigue, impaired coordination, spasticity, and /or trouble with short term memory (Grant &Adam,

Scleroderma is a broad term used to describe a spectrum of disorders identified by skin fibrosis (Succaria, Kurban, Kibbi & Abbas, 2013). It is a serious condition that is classified as either being a systemic or localised autoimmune disease of collagen tissue impacting both internal and external organs (Oksel & Gündüzoğlu, 2014). Due to the vast divergency of this disease there will be brief discussion on the various forms of both systemic and localised scleroderma however, the main focus is to investigate findings based on localised scleroderma, delving into the knowledge of the conditions with particular focus on the aetiology of the disease and its clinical features, followed by differential diagnosis of how this condition can be misdiagnosed

Thousands of Americans are diagnosed with Scleroderma every year across the nation. Scleroderma, also known as Systematic Sclerosis, is an over production of collagen in body tissues causing patches of skin to tighten and harden and can harm other structures in the body.

Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is a complex, polygenic autoimmune disease that affects approximately 75,000 to 100,000 people in the United States. There are approximately 20 new cases per million per year and a total of 250 patients per million [1, 2]. SSc typically presents at approximately 40 years of age and is more common in women than in men [3]. SSc is a very heterogeneous disease where patients can display a variety of symptoms: the three most common symptoms are tissue and organ fibrosis, vasculopathy and autoimmunity/autoantibody production.

Scleroderma, also named Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is considered a rare systemic connective tissue disease affecting mainly the skin and vascular system in the form of generalized microvascular obliterative lesions affecting mainly the small and medium sized vessels (Black 1995). Current thinking of SSc vascular disease suggests an autoimmune contribution, chemical modifications of the endothelium and a possible viral trigger were proposed (Pandey and Leroy 1998).

The human nerve system is very essential interactions between people, dealing with daily challenges, and making important decisions. Therefore, when the nerve system gets affected by a disease or a disorder it can be very difficult to complete those simple tasks. An example for this kind of disease is Multiple Sclerosis. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated disease that affects the nerve system, which consist of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves in the eye. Discussions about MS’s symptoms, treatments, and prognosis would be very helpful to further understand it.

Elastoderma is a rare skin disease that creates abnormal structural makeup of elasticity tissue. The mechanism of this disease is excessive accumulation with an unknown cause. This article focuses on a research study conducted using a variety of different methods to identify the difference in skin affected by Elastoderma compared to that of unaffected skin.

Autoimmune diseases, there are cell-mediated immune responses against parts of the body’s own tissues. Many times autoimmune diseases are referred to “body snatchers”. The progressive nonconformity of extra cellular matrix deposition, cutaneous and multi-organ visceral fibrosis, alternations in microvasculature like small arteries and vessels, and body fluid immunological abnormalities are characteristics of progressive systemic sclerosis. Connective tissue involvement of the lungs, skin, heart, kidneys, intestinal tract, muscles, and joints are affected with progressive systemic sclerosis, but not localized scleroderma. This tightening can become nonfunctional for daily activities. Numerous infectious agents (bacterial and viral) have been

LeRoy EC, et al. Scleroderma (systemic sclerosis): classification, subsets and pathogenesis. J. Rheumatol. 1988; 15: 202–205.

Colchicine can inhibit the accumulation of collagen by blocking the conversion of procollagen to collagen, and by stimulation of collagenase production [15]. But the data available do not support a role for colchicine in treating scleroderma. In an open trial, 20 of 23 patients treated with colchicine improved, but a short term trial showed progression of skin, musculoskeletal, and pulmonary involvement under colchicine therapy [4,16].

Both scleroderma and lupus are autoimmune diseases, that means it’s a disordered of the immune systems, its where the immune system attacks body organs and body tissue. The web site Medicine.Net, also writes that the, “The immune system is a complex organization within the body that is designed normally to "seek and destroy" invaders of the body, including infectious agents. Patients with autoimmune diseases frequently have unusual antibodies circulating in their blood that target their own body tissues.” There are many different types autoimmune diseases, they are lupus, Sjogren syndrome, Hashimoto thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile (type 1) diabetes, polymyositis, scleroderma, Addison disease, vitiligo, pernicious anemia, glomerulonephritis,

Because the extracellular matrix functions both as a reservoir for growth factors and as shock absorbers in the interstitial space between organs, the deficiency of fibrilin causes all manner of disfiguring phenotypes by altering the way in which one’s body grows, and reducing its ability to resist stress.

Due to thickened skin from build- up collagen, motor skills will be greatly affected negatively; such as delay occurs in reaching, moves, walks, flows and paces. Also, weakening of stabilization, grips, lift, walks, transport, endures, calibrates and paces. As well as, malfunction can occur depends on the severity in grip, stabilizes, moves.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune systemic inflammatory disease characterized by vascular abnormalities, immune system activation and fibrosis. Lymphatic microangiopathy starting in early phases has been described more recently. We present a case of a 46-year-old Caucasian woman who developed severe asymmetric lymphedema in lower limbs over the last 2 years. Lymphoscintigraphy confirmed the compromise in lymphatic drainage. This patient had Raynaud's phenomenon, nailfold capillaroscopy with a scleroderma pattern, cutaneous thickening and was positive for the anti-centromere antibody. She was diagnosed with limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis and was treated with methotrexate, folic acid, prednisolone and lymphatic drainage. After 12