Have you ever wondered what Scleroderma is? Scleroderma is, simply put, is an autoimmune disease, which affects the skin. An autoimmune disease is when the body’s immune system is unable to identify healthy and ill cells and attacks healthy tissue.

Scleroderma

The condition, usually chronic, usually manifests itself by way of a hardening of the skin.

You can be affected with different types of scleroderma. Depending on the type and severity, the lifestyle and tolerance factors change.

There is the limited systemic sclerosis or scleroderma which affects the hands, arms and face. This form of scleroderma can also cause complications like pulmonary arterial hypertension. It has also been known to cause complications like calcinosis, Raynaud’s Phenomenon, esophageal dysfunction, sclerodactyl and telangiectadias. This condition was also CREST as a result of these possible complications.

The next type is diffuse systemic sclerosis or scleroderma. This type of scleroderma affects large portions of the skin and can spread to other organs too. The organs it affects are the kidneys, heart, lungs and the esophagus. This particular type of scleroderma can be quite disabling.

Systemic sine scleroderma is a mild form of the condition. It does not affect the skin but it does affect the system.

There are two more versions – morpha and linear scleroderma – which affect the skin and may afflict the internal organs.