Sarcoidosis And Stem Cell Therapy
Stem Cell Therapy
Sarcoidosis is a disease that causes inflammation in the body, that affects many organs of the body. Some of the organs affected are the lungs and the lymph glands. This disease leads to the formation of inflammatory cells that leads to the formation of what is known as granulomas. The granulomas formed consists of inflammatory cells, that could change the structure and the normal function of the organs. Organs that are seldom affected are the brain, the liver, heart, and the eyes, although this disease can affect any organ of the body. The signs and symptoms that people affected with this present with totally depends on the organs affected. This disease is mostly asymptomatic, and when it does show symptoms, they are usually mild. Some of the symptoms it shows when it affects the lung are wheezing, coughing and short of breath. The etiology if this disease is still unknown, however, it’s believed that genetics has an important role in the development of this disease. As an illustration, people who have relatives or siblings affected by the disease, usually do have a high chance of having the disease. This disease can be diagnosed by using the presenting signs and symptoms, although the diagnosis would have to confirmed mostly by doing a biopsy. In some cases, sarcoidosis might resolve by itself without any form of treatment, even though this might take a few years
What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Sarcoidosis?
Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that can affect any organ of the body. It’s mostly asymptomatic. However, symptoms are mostly mild whenever it presents. Some of the general symptom patients do experience are tiredness, loss of weight, pains in the joints, arthritis, blurry vision, shortness of breath, dry cough and so on. Patients might also present with hemoptysis. The skin of the patient when affected can also show symptoms like erythema nodosum and rashes. This disease often present with Lofgren syndrome, which is a combination of pain in the joints, and bilateral lymphadenopathy.
Respiratory system: The respiratory system is the most affected organ of the body in sarcoidosis. Over 90% of people affected by this disease presents with pulmonary system disease. Out of this number, about 15% do experience some kind of fibrosis in the parenchyma of their lungs. The sarcoidosis of the lungs is essentially an interstitial lung disease, that affects the alveoli, and the small bronchi and its associated vessels. Around five percent of people will also experience pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Skin: This disease affects the skin of up to 40% of people that have the disease, however, this is more predominant in African Americans. The second most affected organ is the lungs. The symptoms that occur in the skin are erythema nodosum, subcutaneous nodules and so on. This often does not require treatment, because it self-resolves in less than one month. This disease is capable of causing some major problems. It can disfigure the skin, and also lead to the loss of hair on the scalp.
Cardiovascular system: The rate at which the heart is affected to a large extent, depends on the race of the individual. As an illustration, about twenty-five percent of Japanese people often presents have heart-related diseases, as a result of sarcoidosis, whereas heart-related cases in Europe and the United States are only about 5%. Some of the symptoms can range from fatal ventricular arrhythmia to conduction abnormalities. Conduction abnormalities are usually the most common presentations of this in humans. Sarcoidosis can also lead to complete heart block. In addition, sudden cardiac death has been recorded in some cases. There have also been cases of the formation of granuloma and fibrosis in the heart, in addition to the abnormal accumulation of fluid in the interstitium of the heart.
Nervous system: This disease can affect any components of the nervous system. The most commonly affected component of the nervous system are the cranial nerves. They account for up to 30% of neurosarcoidosis cases. Other symptoms associated with the nervous system are facial nerve palsy. This is mostly abrupt and temporary. Other symptoms of neurosarcoidosis are papilledema, optic nerve disorder, meningitis, hearing problems and peripheral neuropathy. In addition, there have been cases of spinal cord disorders, secondary to sarcoidosis. Patients with facial nerve palsy and acute meningitis usually have the best prognosis. Neurosarcoidosis can lead to the development of diabetes insipidus, and also causes disorder of the menstrual cycle in women. It can also lead to problems in the hypothalamus, which can result in the alteration of the body temperature, mood, endocrine and exocrine function of the hypothalamus.
Other systems affected by this disease include the eyes, reproductive system, blood system and the musculoskeletal system of the body.
What Are The Causes Of Sarcoidosis?
The exact cause of this diseases is not known, however, it has been suggested that sarcoidosis may be a reaction to some changes in the immune response to environmental factors and infections. Genetics is also an important factor to be considered in the development of this disease. For example, about 20% of African Americans do have a relative that is suffering from sarcoidosis. In addition, people who have relatives affected by the disease, usually have a high chance of having the disease. Some mutated genes have been identified as the likely cause of this disease. In addition, infections caused by microorganisms such as fungi, mycobacteria, rickettsia and so on have been all been implicated to contribute to the development of Sarcoidosis.
How Is Sarcoidosis Currently Treated?
There is no cure for this disease, however, this disease often resolves by itself, without any form of treatment, although this might take a while. Treatment is usually given to reduce the symptoms and make life more comfortable for the patients. Some of the medications used are methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine.
Stem Cell Therapy And Sarcoidosis
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells. They are capable of differentiating to form any cell in the body. Apart from this, they also have some unique abilities. For example, they can repair injured tissues, self-regenerate, and multiply. In addition to this, they also regulate inflammatory reactions in the body. Stem cells can be extracted from the body of the patient, through a painless and minimally invasive procedure. These stem cells are then re-introduced to the affected organ of the body. They are capable of slowing down the progression of the disease, and also repair and replace the tissues damaged by the inflammatory reactions caused by this disease.
References
Bhagat, R., Rizzieri, D., Vredenburgh, J., Chao, N. and Folz, R. (2004). Pulmonary Sarcoidosis Following Stem Cell Transplantation. Chest, 126(2), pp.642-644.
Izaki, S. (2012). Cutaneous Sarcoidosis. The Japanese Journal of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders, 32(1), pp.27-31.
Miller, A. (2007). Sarcoidosis, Firefighters Sarcoidosis, and World Trade Center “Sarcoid-Like” Granulomatous Pulmonary Disease. Chest, 132(6), p.2053.
Vucinic, V., Videnovic, J. and Filipovic, S. (2006). HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (HRQL) IN SARCOIDOSIS: SARCOIDOSIS HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE (SHQ) AND CORRELATION WITH CLINICAL COURSE OF SARCOIDOSIS. Chest, 130(4), p.143S.
