What does the word sarcoidosis mean?

(SAR-koy-DOH-sis) An inflammatory disease marked by the formation of granulomas (small nodules of immune cells) in the lungs, lymph nodes, and other organs. Sarcoidosis may be acute and go away by itself, or it may be chronic and progressive.

What Is the Life Expectancy for Sarcoidosis? There is no cure for sarcoidosis, and in many cases, no treatment is required and patients recover on their own. Most patients have a normal life expectancy.

Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease in which the immune system overreacts, causing clusters of inflamed tissue called “granulomas” to form in different organs of the body. Sarcoidosis most commonly affects the lungs and lymph nodes, but it can also affect the eyes, skin, heart and nervous system.

Sarcoidosis can affect people of any age, but usually starts in Adults aged between 30 and 40. It’s rare in childhood. The condition affects people from all ethnic backgrounds. It’s also more common in women than men.

Things to Avoid in Your Diet

Cut back on Red meat. Avoid foods with trans-fatty acids, such as commercially processed baked goods, french fries, and margarine. Stay away from caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol.

There is no cure for sarcoidosis and, in some cases, it is not necessary to treat the disease because it frequently goes away on its own. When treatment is necessary, the doctor may prescribe steroids and other medications to suppress inflammation in the body.

Mycobacterium. Mycobacterium has been the longest hypothesized and most investigated potential etiology of sarcoidosis, due to the histologic similarity between tuberculosis and sarcoidosis.

Many people diagnosed with sarcoidosis never have symptoms, but the disease can cause shortness of breath and loss of lung function and sometimes permanently damage your lungs. In very few cases, sarcoidosis can be life-threatening if it causes heart or severe lung disease.

Sarcoidosis Almost always involves the lungs, but it can also affect the skin, eyes, nose, muscles, heart, liver, spleen, bowel, kidney, testes, nerves, lymph nodes, joints, and brain. Granulomas in the lungs can cause narrowing of the airways and also inflammation and scarring (fibrosis) of lung tissue.

If left untreated, elevated levels of calcium in the blood or urine can cause potentially severe complications including bone loss, osteoporosis (week or brittle bones, especially with long-term treatment with steroids), and long-term kidney and pancreas complications.

Corticosteroids. These powerful anti-inflammatory drugs are usually the first line treatment for sarcoidosis. In some cases, corticosteroids can be applied directly to an affected area — via a cream to a skin lesion or drops to the eyes. Medications that suppress the immune system.

Genetic factors

In different studies, familial sarcoidosis rates have been reported between 1% and 19%.

There is no known way to prevent the disease. Sarcoidosis was once thought to be an uncommon condition. It’s now known to affect tens of thousands of people throughout the U.S. Because many people who have sarcoidosis have no symptoms, it’s hard to know how many people have the condition.