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.
It is believed that in the year 1754, Dr. Carlo Curzio of Naples first discovered this disorder in a young female patient of his. The disorder only affects the skin in most cases, but can harm blood vessels, internal organs, the digestive tract, and many more structures causing it to become life-threatening. There are several symptoms for each structure affected by Scleroderma. The skin experiences hardening and tightening, while the fingers and toes show signs of numbness,
The disease progression was discovered, annotated and observed over a several periods. The 1st period, the classical period, described the cutaneous disorder
Like we learned in chapter 1 the job of the integumentary system is to cover and protect the body but what happens if your skin develops a disease like eczema? Eczema is a chronic, common, non-infective inflammatory condition characterized by intense pruritus, redness, and scaling (Eczema, p.1). This condition can appear at any age, but it usually occurs during infancy or early childhood (Eczema, p.1). Eczema or any skin disease are the most common group of occupational health problems leading to absence from work (Eczema, p.1). Several factors play a big role in eczema, both internally and externally, depending on your genetic makeup you may be prone to getting eczema in as early as a few months after you were born or by allergens as a young
Symptoms of the disease we now know as lupus were first described in the Middle Ages, though physicians of the time did not know the cause of the disease. French physician Pierre Cazenave was the first person to give a detailed description of the disease in 1833, though it was only a description of the face lesions that can be caused by the disease (Mallavarapu). Lupus was not classified as an auto-immune disease till the late 1940s when it was determined how the disease destroyed tissue and cause inflammation (St. Thomas Lupus Trust).
This condition develops when the body's defense system (immune system) attacks the layer of tissue beneath the skin. It is not known why this happens.
Psoriasis is an extremely well-known disease of the Integumentary system that create a red, dry rash on the elbows, back, stomach, knees, palms, etc. The rash Psoriasis causes covers the infected area with dead skin cells that appear like silver scales. The disease cannot be cured, only treated, meaning that the symptoms can be agonizing to many patients with chronic forms. The scientific journal excerpt “Psoriasis Uncovered,” goes into depth about the causes, symptoms, age onset, and many more details about the disease.
Increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines result in an infiltration of inflammatory cells forming plexiform lesions consisting of T cells, B cells and macrophages (Savaj et al., 2012). Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis, is a connective tissue disease characterized by a thickening of the skin. Accumulation of collagen by fibroblasts, platelet adhesion and a type II hypersensitivity reaction lead to endothelial damage. Endothelial damage and decreased vasodilatation result in increased arterial pressure leading to PAH (Mclaughlin, 2009). Patients generally have a poor prognosis unless detected early, as a cure for slceroderma does not exist.
Multiple Sclerosis is a hot topic in science because professionals still know so little and there is currently no cure, although it was discovered in the early 19th century (NMSS, 2015). There is a huge online community of MS patients sharing their experiences of living with this disease. Often times it can be progressive, painful and disrupt daily activities of life (i.e. getting out of bed, brushing teeth, walking etc). The common age group for those who are diagnosed with MS are 20 to 50, and less common are young adults, teenagers and children (MSF, 2009). Determinants of MS include gender, age, where you live, genetics and ethnicity (NMSS, 2015). More women than men are affected (NMSS, 2015). The National Library of Medicine explains that MS affects the central nervous system where T cells are generated and for an unknown reason attacks myelin sheaths in the axons of the brain. Multiple Sclerosis is an auto immune disease, it is not communicable, and there is not one single test that can easily detect it (MSF, 2009). For these reasons and ambiguity of the disease which cause people suffering everyday, it is thus great importance for
I have never like going to the doctor. Check-ups often had me crying and begging my parents to leave me home. Hospitals, however, are another thing. I do not merely not like hospitals, I am terrified of them. Bad things typically happen to those I care about or to myself when a trip to the hospital is necessary. The last time that I, personally, had to be admitted to the hospital was not as traumatizing as my prior visits.
The next progression is the stage of subclinical disease; where pathological disease now exists, however, the individual is unaware of this occurrence (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012a). The pathology of coronary atherosclerosis reportedly happens early in life and by puberty, it has been reported that most children have early signs of endothelial lipid retention (Fuster, Badimon, L., Badimon, & Cheseboro, 1992). Therefore, clinical evidence of sclerosis has probably occurred in nearly everyone by this time, but is asymptomatic and unbeknownst to
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).
Also known as atopic dermatitis, eczema is a chronic inflammatory skin condition. Though eczema is more common during childhood the adult stage can present with skin lesions similar to this patient. They present with extremely pruritic, erythematous, scaly lesions. Acute lesions can be vesicular with exudation and crusting. Adult stage is characterized by thickened skin with lichenification. Atopic dermatitis has a more localized distribution in adults, involving primarily the hands and feet, but in severe cases any area of the body can be involved. In contrast to our patient eczema usually has a relapsing nature and pruritus is a cardinal feature.
More than half of all skin diseases are classified as eczema/dermatitis. These terms both describe inflammatory conditions of the skin associated with symptoms such as redness and swelling, blisters, weeping, itching and scratching. Some people are born with an inherited allergic tendency called atopy. Most eczema patients are atopic and they may also suffer from other allergic diseases such as asthma, hay fever, urticaria or rhinitis.
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.
Ganoderma derived polysaccharides have been shown to increase the peritoneal macrophage phagocytosis in vitro and in vivo [50, 51]. Apart from the activated macrophages, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α production have also been found to be up-regulated. Effects of polysaccharides on intracellular calcium have further shown that Ganoderma can induce cellular as well as extracellular release or influx of Ca2+ ions [52].
Etiology – Progressive systemic scleroderma is a disease in which the immune system begins to attack the body. Suddenly the immune system starts to think that the healthy tissue in the body is harmful and begins to destroy them. There are many different types of this disease and progressive systemic scleroderma affects each person differently. It is considered an autoimmune disorder or disease. Many times, this disease is diagnosed in men and women around the ages of 30 to 50 years old. Women are most likely to suffered from it than