PGI conducts awareness programme for scleroderma

Prof. Shefali K Sharma said that The Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology unit in the Department of Internal Medicine is involved in extensive research of the disease and many drugs have been repurposed and have been found to be useful.

A panel of doctors from the department, Dr Aman Sharma, Dr Varun Dhir, and Dr Shankar Naidu answered the queries of patients.

Sharma introduced the patients to the website, http://www.sclerodermaindia.com, and said it is an attempt to increase awareness about Scleroderma.

“The key is early diagnosis and in the last two decades there has been tremendous evolvement in treatment modalities which have led to better quality of life for patients.We want this website to work as an interface between doctors and patients and help patients to understand the disease, accelerate the diagnosis and understand that there are others also suffering from the disease. We also have a WhatsApp group to address the issues of patients,” said Sharma.

A detailed discussion revealed critical information on various aspects of Sclerosis.

Scleroderma or Systemic Sclerosis is a rare disease characterised by the deposition of excess collagen in skin and internal organs due to vasculopathy, immune activation, and fibrosis, which may lead to symptoms that include tightening of the skin, joint pain, exaggerated response to cold , and heartburn.