LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Sarcoidosis: Chronic Sarcoidosis
built 617 days ago
Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease which is usually diagnosed in young adults and occurs most frequently in the lungs or lymph nodes, although it can appear in other organs. Symptoms, if experienced, vary depending on the organ(s) involved, and can be mild or severe. They may include dyspnea and persistent cough, or may be more general, such as fatigue, weight loss, or overall feeling of ill health, or may involve other organs, such as enlarged lymph glands or skin lesions. In many patients sarcoidosis resolves within two to three years, often disappearing spontaneously and leaving no residual effects. However, approximately one-quarter of patients sustain permanent lung damage as a result of scarring, and some may suffer from chronic sarcoidosis. In about five percent of patients, the damage from sarcoidosis progresses enough that organ transplantation (such as lungs, heart, liver) is required or death occurs.
Source:
Sarcoidosis is often acute or subacute and self-limiting, but in many individuals it is chronic, waxing and waning over many years. Sarcoidosis can be occasionally discovered in a completely asymptomatic individual, but more commonly it presents abruptly over 1 to 2 weeks or the affected individual develops symptoms such as fever, malaise, anorexia or weight loss. These symptoms are usually mild but in 25% of the acute cases, these complaints may be extensive. Many patients have respiratory symptoms, including cough, dyspnea, vague retrosternal chest discomfort. Two syndromes have been identified in the acute group. The Lofgren's syndrome includes the complex of erythema nodosum and x-ray findings of bilateral hilar adenopathy, often accompanied by joint symptoms.
Source:
Sarcoidosis improves or clears up spontaneously in nearly two thirds of people with lung sarcoidosis. Even enlarged lymph nodes in the chest and extensive lung inflammation may disappear in a few months or years. The course can be chronic or progressive in 10 to 30% of people. Serious involvement outside of the chest (for example, of the heart, nervous system, eyes, or liver) occurs in 4 to 7% of people at the beginning of their illness; the chance of involvement outside of the chest increases if lung disease persists.
Source:
Chronic Sarcoidosis - about 25 percent of patients develop chronic sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis can be present for years causing organ and system damage whilst reducing the patients physical activity. Scarring of the tissue in the lungs, skin eyes or other organs is common.
Source:
Sarcoidosis has been associated with celiac disease. Celiac disease is a condition in which there is a chronic reaction to certain protein chains, commonly referred to as glutens, found in some cereal grains. This reaction causes destruction of the villi in the small intestine, with resulting malabsorption of nutrients.
Source:
Sarcoidosis is not cancer or tuberculosis, and it is not contagious. It may cause symptoms that can be unpleasant, but it is not usually disabling. Symptoms can include a nagging cough, shortness of breath, swollen/discolored areas on your skin, fatigue, night sweats, eye problems, low-grade fever, joint pain, or a feeling that something just isn't right. Or you can have no symptoms at all. Symptoms can last for a while and then disappear. But if they last for more than two years, your sarcoidosis is considered chronic.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Chronic Sarcoidosis