Scleroderma Awareness Week – June 8-14

Scleroderma.  A rather rare disease with fewer than half a million people in the United States affected.  There is no reason for you to get this over someone else.

This disease is more likely to affect women between the ages of 35 and 50 than men. 

Awareness is needed for this disease because if you get it there is no cure.  It’s important therefore for you to find ways to manage the disease.

What is scleroderma?

Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease.  The reason for this is that your body over compensates and causes issues with a part of your immune system.

In this case, it involved collagen. One way collagen helps your body is to help it heal from an injury.  With scleroderma, your body’s collagen does not stop producing and adds extra to your cells.

This “extra” collagen prevents your body’s tissues from functioning properly and can make the skin on fingers and toes thick.  It can also cause trouble with your organs down the road.

How is scleroderma diagnosed?

Your health care professional can do a physical exam and run blood tests to find any antibodies in your system.  It can be a difficult diagnosis so don’t rush the process.

What treatments are there for scleroderma?

It all depends on the severity of your scleroderma but some possibilities are:

Use medicines that dilate blood vessels or medicines that suppress your immune system.

Medicine, over-the-counter or prescriptions to help manage your digestive tract.

Stay up-to-date on your vaccinations to avoid infections.

Try and relieve any pain with medications, with or without a prescription.

Private Home Health Care knows this is a rare disease but having awareness is the key to an early diagnosis and care.

Photo by Rocketmann Team