Sarcoidosis (cont.)
What we know about sarcoidosis
Much about sarcoidosis remains unknown. Nevertheless, if you
have the disease, you can be reassured about several things. Sarcoidosis
is usually not crippling. It often goes away by itself, with most cases
healing in 24 to 36 months. Even when sarcoidosis lasts longer, most patients
can go about their lives as usual. Sarcoidosis is not a cancer. It is not contagious, and your friends and family will not catch it from
you. Although it can occur in families, there is no evidence that
sarcoidosis is passed from parents to children.
Some things we don't know about sarcoidosis
Sarcoidosis is currently thought to be associated with an
abnormal
immune response.
It is not known whether the trigger that initiates the immune disturbance is a foreign substance, chemical, drug, virus, or some other substance.
In general, sarcoidosis appears briefly and heals
naturally in 60%-70% of the cases, often without the patient knowing or
doing anything about it. From 20%-30% of sarcoidosis patients are
left with some permanent lung damage. In 10%-15% of the patients, sarcoidosis can become chronic.
When either the granulomas or fibrosis seriously affect
the function of a vital organ—the lungs, heart, nervous system, liver, or
kidneys, for example—sarcoidosis can be fatal. This occurs 5%-10% of the time. Some people are more at risk than others; no one knows why.
No one can predict how sarcoidosis will progress in an
individual patient. The patient's symptoms, race, and the doctor's findings can
give some clues. For example, a sudden onset of general symptoms such as weight
loss of feeling poorly are usually taken to mean that the course of sarcoidosis
will be relatively short and mild. Dyspnea and possibly skin sarcoidosis often
indicate that the sarcoidosis will be more
chronic and severe.
White patients are more likely to develop the milder form of
the disease. Black people tend to develop the more chronic and
severe form.
Sarcoidosis rarely develops before the age of 10 or after
the age of 60. However, the illness—with or without symptoms—has been reported
in younger as well as in older people. When symptoms do appear in these age
groups, the symptoms are those that are more general in nature, for
example, tiredness, sluggishness, coughing, and a general feeling of ill
health.
Next: How is sarcoidosis diagnosed? »
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