About Connective Tissue Disorder

A friend sent me a link: http://www.healthblurbs.com/about-connective-tissue-disorder-autoimmune-and-mixed-connective-tissue-disease/

I found this article written in an easy-to-understand manner and so informative that I have included a permanent link to it (right hand column). Here are a few quotes from the article, but please take the time to read the entire article. I'm sure you'll find it worthwhile.

Your connective tissue is a fibrous material that provides supportive structure to your body tissue and organs. It’s what gives you shape, holding the framework of your body and cells together.
Your connective tissue is mainly composed of two structural proteins, collagen and elastin. For many connective tissue disorders, an immune system response, directed against your own connective tissue, causes inflammation that damages your collagen and elastin.

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The cause for your immune system to turn on the body its designed to protect is unknown.
Autoimmunity is not the only basis giving rise to a connective tissue issue. A couple connective tissue diseases have a genetic component cause involved, like:

• homocystinuria
• Marfan syndrome
  
• 
  
• osteogenesis imperfecta


• Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

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Oftentimes, the initial symptoms for an individual connective tissue disorder overlap with those of another, such as fatigue, fever and weight loss. So sometimes, the diagnosis of undifferentiated connective tissue disease may be given until a more defining set of symptoms appear.
A connective tissue disease can manifest itself via a myriad of symptoms that indicate various parts of your body are being affected. For instance, here are a couple areas and just some corresponding symptoms:

• joints ~ arthralgia, arthritis
• vascular ~ thrombosis, vasculitis
• nervous system ~ seizures, neuropathy
• muscles ~ muscle weakness, myalgia, myositis
• eyes ~ dry eyes, conjunctivitis, ocular inflammation
• salivary glands ~ dry mouth, salivary gland enlargement
• lungs ~ dyspnea, orthopnea, cough, wheezing, chest pain
• heart ~ angina, chest pain, dyspnea, orthopnea, edema, pericarditis
• skin ~ purpura, alopecia, skin tightening, chronic hives, photosensitivity
• gastrointestinal ~ anorexia, dysphagia, indigestion, abdominal pain, nausea & vomiting, hematemesis, jaundice, diarrhea

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Autoimmune connective tissue disorder development can arise slowly or swiftly. And you may go through health oscillations between periods of remission and flares. Feeling healthy today, but perhaps not the next.