Understand the National Scleroderma Foundation’s mission
About the Foundation
Chronic disease changes your whole life. This fact sheet offers suggestions to help cope with your new life with scleroderma.
People living with scleroderma face unique challenges while trying to maintain their oral health. This fact sheet reviews common problems and treatments to help maintain good oral health.
Sometimes, people with scleroderma experience
an overwhelming urge to defecate. That’s
because your disease can reduce your rectal
capacity. It’s truly a “bathroom emergency,”
because these embarrassing episodes can happen
at any time, and sometimes, you have explosive
diarrhea too.
The first thing a parent must understand is which form of scleroderma their child has. Localized scleroderma is the most common form in childhood.
The term “localized scleroderma” as a primary diagnosis refers to the fact that this group of conditions is “localized” to the skin, with no internal organ involvement.
It is estimated that 90% of individuals with systemic sclerosis (SSc) have some evidence of pulmonary disease. This makes pulmonary disease second only to esophageal disease as the most common manifestation of SSc.
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is high blood pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs. If the high blood pressure in the lungs is due to narrowing of the pulmonary arteries leading to increased pulmonary vascular resistance, it is known as pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).
Raynaud phenomenon is the exaggeration of the normal response to cold temperatures and emotional stress.