Sarcoidosis or sarcoid is a disease due to a particular type of inflammation called granulomatous inflammation.
This is when cells involved in inflammation join or come together and form ‘lumps’ called granulomas by your immune system. Instead of first forming and then dying the granuloma heals and form scar tissue.
The trigger for these granulomas are unknown and probably involve the response by our own body anti-inflammatory processes.
It maybe similar to tuberculosis (gramulomas contain macrophages, monocytes and active T-lymphocytes ) but it is not triggered by an infection.
In time it can make your immune system weak and make you more prone to infection.
These lumps can develop at various sites in the body due to inflammation and can affect any organ of the body for example skin, heart, liver kidneys, muscles nose, sinuses , brain and nerves, more commonly in lungs, lymph glands (neck, groin and armpits), skin and eyes.
If lots of lumps form then it can affect the organs function and how that body part works for the body and then affect the rest of your body.
For example damage to the lungs can make your the right hand side of your heart to enlarge (cor-pulmonale) and damage muscles in your heart (cardiomyopathy) and lead to heart failure.
Common organs affected
Chances affected with sarcoidosis
Other glands (armpit and groin)
17%
Eyes (uvetitits)
12.5%
Lung and lymph glands (chest area)
90%
Skin
25%
Nerves and nervous system
5%
Nerves and nervous system
5%
Heart
2%
Others: bones, joint, muscles, liver, spleen, kidney, gut
Rare
Some (up to 50%) have no symptoms and are only are diagnosed with the condition when one has a chest x-ray or a skin rash for another reason.
It is often mis-diagnosed because other conditions can cause these symptoms.
Symptoms can vary because some organs are affected and/or some not at all and/or not all organs are affected at the same time.
The disease can develop suddenly and then disappear (if over a period of weeks it is called acute sarcoidosis), or it may appear gradually (over a period of months) and produce symptoms that come and go and can occur to continue to recur over a lifetime (chronic sarcoidosis).
The condition often goes away by itself and more than half of cases clear up themselves in two to three years and is often mistaken for other disease.
In other cases it can become a long-standing and serious condition where treatment is needed.
It is a rare condition where in the United Kingdom 3000 people are diagnosed with the condition for the first time.
Women tend to have it more than men, mainly in ages between 20-40 years old and seem to be more common in Scandinavian, Africa-Americans and Africa-Caribbean.
It is when the end of your breathing pipes the air sacks, become inflamed (hot, red, swollen) and filled with fluid.
This occurs when breathing something that is harmful to the body that is not infectious (bacterial, protozoan, fungal viral), but can still irritate or damage ones lungs, it could be an allergen, irritant, chemical (for example beryllium causes Berylliosis) or a foreign object which can cause pneumonia symptoms.
Please talk to your healthcare professional (i.e. Medical Doctor/Pharmacist) for further advice
Detailed Information
Please copy and paste any key words from the title: Sarcoidosis in the following respective 'Medtick References and/or Sources' to find out more about the disease (this also may include diagnosis tests and generic medical treatments).
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