Scleroderma
Foundation
Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis, is
a chronic connective tissue disease generally classified
as one of the autoimmune rheumatic diseases.The
word “scleroderma” comes from two Greek
words: “sclero” meaning hard, and “derma”
meaning skin. Hardening of the skin is one of the
most visible manifestations of the disease. The
disease has been called “progressive systemic
sclerosis,” but the use of that term has been
discouraged since it has been found that scleroderma
is not necessarily progressive.
There
are an estimated 300,000 people in the United States
who have scleroderma, about one third of whom have
the systemic form of scleroderma. Since scleroderma
presents with symptoms similar to other autoimmune
diseases, diagnosis is difficult and there may be
many misdiagnosed or undiagnosed cases as well.
Localized
scleroderma is more common in children, whereas
systemic scleroderma is more common in adults. Overall
female patients outnumber male patients about four
to one, and the average age at diagnosis is in the
forties. To read more, please visit www.scleroderma.org
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