Sarcoidosis: Disease in Disguise

                Looks may be deceiving is very true with this disease. Your symptoms may be very vague and even unnoticed. It is also true because you may look completely healthy on the outside, but very sick internally. This disease really hit home for me because I lost my father from it on February 25, 2012. This disease is called Sarcoidosis, and this was very deceiving in his case.

Symptoms of Sarcoidosis are usually vague and sometimes don’t occur. There is a wide variety of symptoms, most involving your lungs and/or chest. Many of the symptoms are common things you would just brush off. A fair majority of the symptoms deal with breathing and tiredness. In my dad’s case, a lot of the symptoms he had seemed like nothing, especially nothing to rush to the hospital for.

This disease causes granulomas, clusters of immune cells, to form in certain organs of the body. This disease is more common in African Americans than Caucasians. It is also more common in women than men. Sarcoidosis typically affects people in their twenties to forties.  Also, if you have a blood relative who has been diagnosed with this disease, you are about five times more likely to get it yourself. Approximately 10,000 people in the United States are living with this disease today.

Diagnosing Sarcoidosis is tricky. Because it being so uncommon, it isn’t usually something doctors look for right away. Diagnosing takes some ruling out. To find out if you have this disease doctors can take X-rays of the chest, CT scans, Pulmonary Function (breathing) tests, and Bronchoscopies. This disease is rarely causes death, and when it is it is normally because of heart, lungs, or brain complications.

There is no cure for this disease yet, but there are treatments. An oral corticosteroid called Prednisone is often used. This can usually get rid of the coughing and extreme tiredness. Practicing good health habits can also improve this disease; such as eating a well-balanced diet, exercising, and avoiding smoking. Often people affected with Sarcoidosis never know because the disease comes for a short period of time and then disappears after a while.

 

Have you ever heard of this disease?

Have you ever had these symptoms?

Has anyone in your family been diagnosed with this?

2 thoughts on “Sarcoidosis: Disease in Disguise

  1. I think your article is very interesting and I’m sorry about your dad! 🙁 I like how you picked a topic you have a bond with and know about more now. I never heard of this disease until now, that is scary. I have had these symptoms, but I think it was just lack of sleep. I did some research and found some more symptoms on this sarcoidosis disease. This was a great article and check out my link!
    http://www.webmd.com/lung/arthritis-sarcoidosis

  2. I think you did a great job in your article and the amount of personal commitment you had in it. I also think that it is very interesting how they’re are no signs and it just shows up. I also did some researching and found how it’s extremely weird that there are no real causes besides some possible toxins in the envirement. Overall great article. http://www.lifescript.com/health/centers/pain/related_conditions/sarcoidosis.aspx?gclid=COz47Z6HkbYCFcw7MgodHUIAwQ&ef_id=UUywvQAAAVh2oJ@z:20130322192757:s

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