Hardening of the skin could be scleroderma
Dr. Sandeep Varma |
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On the web: For more information about scleroderma, go to the Scleroderma Foundation web site at www.scleroderma.org |
Managing scleroderma is important to reducing complications that can come from the autoimmune disease.
June is national Scleroderma Awareness Month, which helps educate people about the disease that affects 300,000 people in the U.S.
Scleroderma causes stiffening and hardening of the skin; it is diagnosed by an antinuclear antibody test, and if that comes back positive, then a rheumatologist does further blood tests.
Sandeep Varma, MD, a rheumatologist at the Backus Outpatient Care Center, said women are more likely to have the disease, which often develops between the ages of 25-55.
He said there are two main kinds of scleroderma, limited and diffused. Limited is usually limited to the hands, although the face and neck also may be involved. Diffused is when skin tightening also occurs above the wrists.
There is also a classification called CREST, which is a form of systemic sclerosis which is characterized by calcinosis (calcium deposits), usually in the fingers; Raynauds’, a loss of muscle control of the Esophagus, which can cause difficulty swallowing; sclerodactyly, a tapering deformity of the bones of the fingers; and telangiectasia, small red spots on the skin of the fingers, face, or inside of the mouth.
Complications from scleroderma can include lung and kidney involvement. Lung problems can include pulmonary hypertension and fibrosis of the lung. Kidney complications can include renal crisis.
Dr. Varma said medication can prevent these complications, so it is important to be monitored and manage the disease with help from a rheumatologist or clinic, such as the Backus Outpatient Care Center.
A new rheumatologist, Harisingh Cahudary, MD, will be joining the staff July 1, and plans to focus on scleroderma at the growing outpatient center.