Scleroderma

Australia is in a state of ‘clinical equipoise’ over whether to anticoagulate systemic sclerosis patients with pulmonary hypertension, experts say. And with observational studies showing the treatment is associated with a  fivefold reduction in mortality, the issue demanded a prompt resolution, the team of rheumatologists wrote in this week’s Internal Medicine Journal.

Describing the issue as one of the “most contentious” in the management of patients with connective tissue disease, the doctors said anticoagulation was currently not regarded as standard care in these

Men with autoimmune diseases have a higher incidence of prostate cancer (PCa) than those without those diseases, according to study findings presented at the American Urological Association annual meeting.

Using the National Inpatient Sample database, researchers obtained data on 189,290 men with a history of autoimmune disease—multiple sclerosis (MS), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), systemic sclerosis, psoriasis, Sjogren's syndrome, discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE), or rheumatoid arthritis (RA)—and a subsequent diagnosis of PCa.

The University of Michigan Health System is widely known for medical innovation — from the research laboratory to the patient’s bedside — but in partnership with dedicated donors, the institution is also innovating the way it raises money to accelerate groundbreaking research.

With the help of local philanthropists Jon and Lisa Rye, whose close family member was diagnosed with the debilitating skin disease Scleroderma, UMHS is reaching out to the Scleroderma community to help fund promising new research underway in the U-M Division of Rheumatology.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc), also known as Scleroderma, is a rare autoimmune connective tissue disorder that's difficult to treat. However, thanks to new research at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine and Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, doctors may be able to treat some patients more effectively.

Characterized by thickening of the skin, SSc can also cause significant complications in the joints and internal organs—particularly the esophagus, lower gastrointestinal tract, lungs, heart and kidneys. There is no cure—and the one drug commonly used to treat the disease, mycophenolate mofetile (MMF) does not work for all patients. In the absence of a biomarker to inform therapeutic medical decisions, patients are exposed to ineffective and potentially toxic medications.

Scleroderma is a rare, autoimmune, connective tissue disease characterized by the overproduction of collagen, which results in the thickening and hardening of the underlying connective tissues which support the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs such as the heart, lungs, and kidneys. It can limit a patient’s range of motion and ability to perform simple daily tasks due to fatigue, and the pain, swelling, and inflammation of the joints. With organ involvement, life can become particularly more challenging and life-threatening. There is no known cure for Scleroderma.

Using the VivoSight OCT scanner, manufactured in the UK by Michelson Diagnostics Ltd, scientists at the Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds have developed the first quantitative imaging biomarker for skin involvement in Scleroderma.

Scleroderma or Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is a serious type of autoimmune disorder affecting approximately 1 in 10,000 people. It is a progressive disease that involves skin and internal organs by determining fibrosis, vasculopathy and immune system activation.

Patients with diffuse systemic sclerosis (SSc) and no clinical evidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) may, in fact, have subclinical CVD and atherosclerosis, and it is detectable. This is the conclusion of a small pilot study from Italy, which showed that elevated plasma levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous nitric oxide synthase inhibitor important in the atherosclerotic process, may be a unique indicator of cardiovascular risk in systemic sclerosis (SSc).

The immune-inflammatory response that injures vascular endothelial cells in

Researchers in Italy evaluated 65 patients with Juvenile Localized Scleroderma (JLS; or morphea) previously enrolled in a double blind, randomized control trial and treated for the first 3 months with oral methotrexate (MTX; 15 mg/m2 weekly) and prednisone (1 mg/kg daily, maximum 50 mg). Clinical evaluation, infrared thermography and computerized skin scores were used to evaluate lesions.

Patients were defined as responders if they satisfied criteria including no new lesions, skin score rate less than 1 and a decrease in lesion temperature by at least 10% compared with baseline.

Significant advances have been made in understanding the genetic basis of systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) in recent years. Can these discoveries lead to individualized monitoring and treatment? Besides robustly replicated genetic susceptibility loci, several genes have been recently linked to various systemic sclerosis disease manifestations.

Furthermore, inclusion of genetic studies in design and analysis of drug trials could lead to development of genetic biomarkers that predict treatment response.

For the hundreds of thousands of people around the world, living with Scleroderma can be particularly challenging. As part of the Foundation's ongoing mission, we seek to source and provide useful information, tips, and articles which can help each and every patient overcome many of these challenges.

Today, we have reviewed and ranked our top 10 stories on Scleroderma for 2012, as featured on our site last year. Please feel free to check them out and let us know what you think in our comments section below.