Scleroderma Essay

My recommendations for her are to brush three times a day and to incorporate flossing in the morning or at night into her daily routine. Using a zero alcohol mouthwash with fluoride should also be used at nighttime after brushing. It would be beneficial for her to use thicker floss like super floss to get deep in those pockets to break up the bacteria. A gum with xylitol would be a great addition for this patient. With all of the medications causing xerostomia and her risk for caries being high, she will need xylitol gum implemented 4 or 5 times during her day. This information can be given directly to the patient. Simple written instructions could be helpful since she already has so much going on every day.

Psoriatic arthritis is a form of arthritis that affects certain people. It is normally characterized by red patches on skin and scale like features. This disease develops differently, with some people contracting the psoriatic arthritis first before the joint pains and vice versa. As per now, there is no known cure for this disease. Obesity is acondition were the health of an individual is put at risk because of body fat that accumulates in the body. Over the years doctors have discovered growing cases of people with both diseases. The major difference was that psoriatic arthritis was worse in people that are overweight or obese they have a harder time because of how much they weigh. Recent research also proves that unlike their counterparts that weigh normally, obese people are less likely to reach minimal disease activity in a year. This can be explained in a variety of ways.

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.

This is a 50 year-old male who required inpatient hospitalization due to dizziness, abdominal pain, headache, and nausea after taking atenolol. Mr. A came to the Emergency Department with complaints of some dizziness two-day prior to admission and collapsed several times. For the past 2 weeks, he had not been taking his blood pressure medications due to financial reasons. He was given clonidine and atenolol from his dialysis center while he was unable to afford his normal hypertension medication. He was dialyzed three times a week through his arteriovenous fistula and had not missed any sessions. He also had increased dyspnea on exertion over the past 3 weeks, orthopnea and usually sleeps on several pillows which worsened between his dialysis. His medical history is significant for hypertension, diabetes mellitus type II, morbid obesity and end stage renal disease on dialysis.

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.

Identify and practice on common assessment techniques used to help in diagnosis of skin disorders.

Lichen sclerosus is a chronic skin disorder that most often affects genital and perianal areas. It is 10 times more common in women than men, most often affecting the area around the anus outer part or the external part of the vagina. While in men, it usually affects the tip of the penis. It is possible to occur at any age but is usually seen in women at the age of 50 and above. Some people have shown no symptoms, but others experience itchiness, blistering in the affected area, and discomfort. Lichen sclerosus presents as thickened patches or white crinkled of skin that have a tendency to scar permanently. Treatment may include strong steroid creams or ointments especially when it affects the genital areas.

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.

I chose my topic because I have a skin condition, and I thought it might be a good idea to research different skin disorders. I have eczema on my foot and it was a very irritable skin disorder to go through. But thanks to the miracle of modern day medicine, all I'm left with is a scar and it is barely noticeable. Since that's my skin disorder I will begin with eczema and work my way down to pressure sores.

Systemic sclerosis, also known as, scleroderma or CREST syndrome is a chronic inflammatory, autoimmune connective tissue disease. Scleroderma is a connective tissue disease that involves changes in the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. This disease can be classified into two main types, systemic or localized. Systemic scleroderma can affect all parts of the body, such as internal organs, skin, and blood vessels. Localized only affects the skin and is not life threatening, as systemic can be. Scleroderma can be progressive and it involves the skin and connective tissues that tighten and harden. It is a type of autoimmune condition that occurs when the immune system misguidedly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue.

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

High environmental temperatures and trauma leads to a breech in the integrity of the ear canal skin (e.g. cotton buds, fingernails, hearing aids, ear plugs, paperclips, match sticks, mechanical removal of cerumen) (12). Host factors comprise anatomical wax and debris which accumulate and lead to moisture retention (e.g. a narrow ear canal, hairy ear canal). Absence or overproduction of cerumen leads to loss of the protective layer and moisture retention respectively.

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.

Schwannoma also called as neurilemmoma was first described by Verocay in 1908 [1,2].It is a slow growing benign tumor arising from the schwann cells of nerve sheath.It is solitary and encapsulated tumor which can arise from any nerve with two notable exceptions the optic and olfactory nerves both of which lack Schwann cell encasement hence are not involved [3]. Approximately 25–45% of all schwannomas occur in the head and neck region [4].Most commonly affected nerve by schwannoma is the vestibulocochlear (VIII) nerve (acoustic neurinomas) [2,,5 ,6] .Schwannomas are rarely found perorally (only 1%) with tongue being the most common peroral structure involved [3,7,8].It has no predilection for sex or race and it is usually seen between the third and sixth decades of life[9].Schwannoma tongue