• What is scleroderma?
• What are the symptoms?
• How is scleroderma treated?
• Other resources

What is scleroderma?
Scleroderma is a chronic disorder which affects connective tissues and very small blood vessels in the body. It is an autoimmune disorder, and is also called systemic sclerosis. It is generally inherited, and isn't a contagious disease.

There are two major classifications of scleroderma:

• Localized scleroderma, in which symptoms occur in just a few places on the skin or muscular tissue. It is more common in children than adults, and usually does not develop into the more systemic form of the disease.
• Systemic sclerosis, which is more widespread in the body, involving several systems. Like the localized form, it may include problems with the skin and muscular tissue, but also may involve the joints, blood vessels, heart, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and other parts of the body. This form of scleroderma can be quite severe, and even life-threatening.

An estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people in the US are afflicted with scleroderma, and it occurs more frequently in women than in men--as much as four times as often. Though it is uncertain what causes the disease, it is believed that an over-production of collagen is involved.

What are the symptoms?
Scleroderma can be very difficult to diagnose, because many of the symptoms, especially early on, are similar to other rheumatoid diseases, such as lupus and polymyositis. Also, scleroderma affects each person differently, so each individual will exhibit different symptoms. Some of the main symptoms of scleroderma include:

• swelling in the hands, fingers, feet, toes, or face
• thickening and discoloration of the skin, which usually becomes thicker for the first few years of the disease
• painful, stiff joints
• excessive sensitivity to cold in the hands and feet (called Raynaud's Syndrome)
• small, white bumps beneath the skin's surface
• dilated blood vessels visible on the face or hands
• kidney, heart, lung, and digestive tract problems
• brittle bones and aching muscles
• weakness, weight loss, and fatigue
• calcium deposits in the skin, a painful condition called calcinosis
• difficulty swallowing

How is scleroderma treated?
A person suffering from scleroderma will probably need to see several specialists for an accurate diagnosis and course of treatment. A rheumatologist (doctor who specializes in arthritis and other rheumatoid illnesses) and dermatologist (a skin doctor) may work together with a primary care physician to determine which parts of the body are being affected. Though the thickening and tightening of the skin is the most common symptom, scleroderma may be nearly invisible if it mainly affects internal organs.

The course of treatment chosen depends on the organs which are affected by the disease. Because scleroderma is an autoimmune disorder, research is being done to develop better treatments using stem cells and bone marrow transplantation, hopefully resulting in a corrected immune system.

Other resources

• Scleroderma Foundation (www.scleroderma.org)
• Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium (www.msu.edu/user/martinr3/sctc_0.htm)
• Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation (www.sjogrens.com)

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