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38 IMMUNOCARE
SHINING THE SPOTLIGHT ON SCLERODERMA
It affects thousands of Australians, yet there’s limited awareness of scleroderma. This month we highlight the often-debilitating autoimmune condition.
CBy Margaret Mielczarek.
hances are you haven’t
heard of scleroderma. Sclero-what? I hear you say. It’s an autoimmune condition
affecting 6,000 Australians1, profoundly reducing quality of life and the ability
to work (studies show that scleroderma sufferers “on average, retire 15 years before their healthy population peers”2, and costing the community an estimated $64 million annually3. So, while other autoimmune issues continually make headlines, it’s time to shine the spotlight on scleroderma.
“Scleroderma, sometimes known
as systemic sclerosis, is a connective tissue disorder and is classed as an autoimmune rheumatic condition,” Scleroderma Australia President Amanda Lawrie-Jones said. “The way
we like to describe it is by breaking down the Greek meaning of the word: ‘sclero’, meaning hard, and ‘derma’, meaning skin.” Put simply, scleroderma is ‘hard skin’.
Ms Lawrie-Jones says hardening occurs when the body overproduces collagen.
“Collagen is the major protein portion of the connective tissue of the body, which is the tissue that holds the cells together,” she said. “Collagen is found in the skin, joints, tendons and in parts of the internal organs [and is] made up of tiny fibres, which are woven together.”
Collagen overproduction can lead to the affected areas of the body becoming thick and hard, a phenomenon that interferes “with the normal functioning of those parts”, she says.
Given collagen’s significance in the body – without it the cells wouldn’t be held together – it makes sense that the issues with scleroderma are more perverse than simply affecting the skin.
“Scleroderma doesn’t only affect the skin,” Ms Lawrie-Jones said. “It can also cause serious damage to the lungs, heart, kidneys, oesophagus and gastrointestinal tract.”
This is why scleroderma is also sometimes referred to as “a multisystem condition”, one that “can vary with symptoms from mild to life-threatening”.
Affecting both males and females, and at any age (although, as Ms Lawrie- Jones points out, “it’s rare in children”) the condition is “three to four times more common in women”, and there is “currently no known cause or cure”.
RETAIL PHARMACY ASSISTANTS • JUL 2020