Scleroderma also called as systemic sclerosis is a type of autoimmune disorder affecting the connective tissues of the body. The origin of the word “scleroderma” comes from Greek in which the word ‘sclero’ means hardening and ‘derma’ means skin. This disease is a long term (chronic) disorder that makes the skin hard. The intensity of sclerosis differs from one person to the other and the disease is not progressive in nature. It is a rare disorder that involves hardening of the skin and the fibers of the body.
Very often scleroderma is localized since it affects the skin leaving the other parts but in rare cases it will affect vital organs like heart, lungs and kidneys. This disorder is more common in women (age group of 30-50) than men. Unlike other skin diseases, scleroderma is not contagious but it reduces the self esteem of the person due to its ugly appearance.
Scleroderma Symptoms :
Scleroderma is characterized by hardening of skin and connective tissues. It is visible as thick patches on the skin more concentrated on the areas of fingers, hands and face. The skin becomes swollen and tight making it difficult to move the fingers or hands.
Sometimes it involves constriction of blood vessels on the hands and feet causing pain, numbness and color changes and these symptoms are named as Raynaud’s phenomenon. This condition happens when the person becomes stressed due to emotion or exposed to cold weather for long duration. This disease can affect the esophagus area present near the stomach making it difficult to absorb the nutrients properly. It may also produce acid reflux producing frequent gas discharge from the stomach.
Localized scleroderma can be categorized into two types namely morphea and linear. In the morphea type of scleroderma it causes round shaped patches on the skin marked with purple border. Often it is seen only on one part of the body like face or hands but sometimes it can appear throughout the body.
Liner scleroderma is seen in children and is marked by the presence of streaks of hard skin on arms and legs but it affects only one side of the body. Systemic scleroderma is serious since it affects the internal organs like lungs, heart and even the blood vessels of the body. But in this case the symptoms are poor and are visible only if the disease has progressed. However systemic scleroderma is a very rare disorder.
Scleroderma Causes :