{"id":192,"date":"2013-10-07T01:18:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-07T01:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vasculitis.ca\/?page_id=192"},"modified":"2021-06-04T17:26:58","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T21:26:58","slug":"about-vasculitis","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vasculitis.ca\/?page_id=192","title":{"rendered":"About Vasculitis\u00c0 propos des vasculites"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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About Vasculitis<\/h1>\n

Vasculitis is an inflammation of the\u00a0wall of blood vessels, arteries, veins, or capillaries.<\/strong>\u00a0 This inflammation causes a weakening and narrowing of the blood vessel lumen that can progress to the point of blood vessel blockage or hemorrhage.\u00a0 There is no known cause, or cure, for the primary types of vasculitis.<\/strong> There are some probable causes, and \u201ccures\u201d in rare drug and bacterial (meningitis), triggered vasculitis.<\/p>\n

A result of vasculitis is that the tissues and organs supplied by the affected blood vessels do not get enough blood. \u00a0This can result in organ and tissue damage, which can be irreversible, thus causing morbidities, and sometimes leads to death.<\/strong>\u00a0 Vasculitis is a family of about 26 separate, but related, diseases within the larger family of more than 110 arthritic diseases. \u00a0It is also considered an\u00a0autoimmune disease. \u00a0An autoimmune disease<\/strong> occurs when the body mistakes its own cells for foreign invaders and produces antibodies to attack the perceived invaders, for example, as a defense against infection.<\/p>\n

The different types of vasculitis are classified according to the size and location of the blood vessels that are affected. \u00a0All are considered rare diseases, and affect people of all ages, gender and ethnicity.<\/strong> \u00a0Though some specific forms of vasculitis can improve on their own, most require treatment. The duration of treatment varies, with some people using medications for an extended period of time, often years. \u00a0Vasculitis is more common than you think, and can be more serious than you expect!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vasculitis\u00a0can affect any blood vessel or organ<\/strong>\u00a0in the body, including the skin, joints, lungs, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, eyes, brain, nerves, sinuses, nose and ears. Signs and symptoms of Vasculitis vary widely in type and severity.\u00a0 Some are specific to a particular organ and others are non specific causing general aches, pains and fatigue.\u00a0 Some types of Vasculitis are more likely to occur in certain populations than others.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Early diagnosis and proper treatment can bring vasculitis into remission. \u00a0Many patients lead full, productive lives with the right management of their chronic disease, many others do not.\u00a0 Treatment usually consists of a combination of powerful drugs such as Rituximab, Cyclophosphamide, Methotrexate, Azathioprine, or others, with glucocorticoids (prednisone). \u00a0Although basic treatment is similar, it will vary depending on the specific vasculitis, severity of symptoms, the patient\u2019s general health status and associated conditions\/comorbidities.<\/p>\n

Treatment is often divided into two stages: firstly, the induction of disease remission, and secondly, the maintenance of disease remission. Patients must follow treatment instructions carefully, for example, oral cyclophosphamide should be followed with plenty of water to flush away harmful by-products, and requires frequent lab monitoring. \u00a0Ideally, its use will be limited to a 3 to 6 month duration, and a +\/-25g lifetime exposure limit, with follow-up and long-term cancer screening via urine dipstick etc.\u00a0 Effective treatment may require a \u201cteam\u201d approach with specialists like a: nephrologist (kidney), otolaryngologist (ear, nose\/sinus, throat), ophtalmologist (eye), pulmonologist\/respirologist (lung), others as needed, and always consult with a vasculitis specialist, usually a rheumatologist\/immunologist.<\/p>\n

It is imperative to have a close, continuous and long-term follow-up, even when in remission and off drug therapy since the disease, in some patients, can relapse. For example, in ANCA associated vasculitis relapses and \u201cflares\u201d occur in over\u00a050% of patients as time goes on.<\/strong>\u00a0 To help manage their disease, patients must maintain a good relationship with their doctors, understand and follow instructions carefully. Many patients find it useful to maintain a diary listing medications, test results, and notes on any symptoms they are experiencing. These notes can be reviewed during a patient\/doctor appointment.<\/p>\n

Download the Vasculitis Foundation Canada brochure: Living with Vasculitis here.<\/a><\/h3>\n

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About Vasculitis Vasculitis is an inflammation of the\u00a0wall of blood […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2059,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-192","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vasculitis.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vasculitis.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vasculitis.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vasculitis.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2059"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vasculitis.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=192"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/vasculitis.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1187,"href":"https:\/\/vasculitis.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/192\/revisions\/1187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vasculitis.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}