SARCOIDOSIS
A Serious Disease That Often Goes Unnoticed
What bodily system does Sarcoidosis affect?
The skin is mainly attacked, and you will be able to see it because it often looks like a purple or red rash, but the lungs can also be effected and it would be deadlier.
"Sarcoidosis most commonly targets the lungs and lymph nodes, but the disease can and usually does affect others organs, too, including (but not limited to) the skin, eyes, liver, salivary glands, sinuses, kidneys, heart, the muscles and bones, and the brain and nervous system." -StopSarcoidosis.org
What causes sarcoidosis, is it genetic disease or a pathogen?
One man with this disease got it from constantly working outside, digging up streets, and not wearing protective masks as often as he should.
A Interview With A Person Who Suffers With Sarcoidosis
He Was Diagnosed In 2010 and It has Not Gone Away
Q: What were the chain of events that lead up to your diagnosis of sarcoidosis?
A: Persistent cough and pain. Multiple visits to the doctor.
Q: What kind of pain did it cause and where?
A: Very sharp pains in my stomach. It made me not want to eat.
Q: What medications were prescribed?
A: I was sent to the hospital and given an IV because I didn't want to eat because of the immense pain in my stomach. They also gave me pain medication. A bone marrow test was taken for the thought of Cancer. It came out negative, so they ran multiple other tests until the doctors realized it was Sarcoidosis.
Q: Can this disease go away?
A: Yes
Q: Do you think you it will ever go away for you?
A: Most likely not because I still work in an environment with a lot of dust and dirt, although I no longer dig in the streets, I deliver materials to the sites and the trucks are often dusty.
In The Lungs
Sarcoidosis often comes up in an x-ray looking like blotches or separate spots of swelling around the alveoli, small bronchi, and small blood vessels.
Under A Microscope
Sarcodosis often has a purple or pink color when it is magnified under a microscope.
An Infected Lung
When an infected lung is removed, because it is useless, it has multiple wholes and dents.
What Are The Symptoms of Sarcoidosis?
-Fatigue -Shortness of Breath
-Night Sweats -Enlarged Lymph Nodes
-Weight Loss -Dry Cough
How Many People Are Effected By Sarcoidosis?
Women have a higher chance of getting sarcoidosis than men.
How Is This Disease Distributed Worldwide?
Is Sarcoidosis A Serious Disease?
Sarcoidosis often leads to scar tissue and difficulty breathing, though it usually only becomes difficult to breathe when you are exerted. 20 to 25% of patients have a loss of lung function, but they can still live a fairly normal life. Less than 5% of Sarcoidosis cases turn out to be fatal.
What Diseases Can Sarcoidosis Mimic During The Process Of Diagnosis?
It can be confused with Lymphoma, tumors of the Lymph nodes.
And even tuberculosis. To properly diagnose sarcoidosis doctors will take an x-ray of the chest, the pictures that are taken can often resemble multiple different diseases of the lungs.
Treatment for Pulmonary (Lung) Sarcoidosis
Do You Have Acne?
"In this study, Localization of Propionibacterium acnes in granulomas supports a possible etiologic link between sarcoidosis and the bacterium, published in Modern Pathology (May 2012), Japanese scientists tested the hypothesis that P. acnes is an etiologic agent of sarcoidosis. This is a bacteria normally found on human skin, the same bacteria that causes acne. Surprisingly, this bacteria has been found inside sarcoid granulomas and in the fluid washed from the surface of the lungs (BAL) during diagnostic procedures.
Researchers identified a P. acnes trigger-factor protein that induced pulmonary granulomas only in mice with latentP. acnesinfection in their lungs. Eradication of P. acnes by antibiotics in these mice prevented granulomas, which might explain the recently reported effectiveness of tetracyclines for treating sarcoidosis. They found greater than 50% reactivity: 57% in lung tissue and 88% in lymph node. They also found bodies that might be intact forms of intracellular bacteria, because they lacked a cell wall structure. This study concluded that sarcoidosis may arise from an imbalance of Th1/Th17 immune responses against viable P. acnes, but not M. tuberculosis complex." -Bacterial Etiology of Sarcoidosis