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Scleroderma - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
Scleroderma (sklair-oh-DUR-muh), also known as systemic sclerosis, is a group of rare diseases that involve the hardening and tightening of the skin. Scleroderma also may cause problems in the blood vessels, internal organs and digestive tract.

Scleroderma: What It Is, Risk Factors, Symptoms & Care
Scleroderma is a rare condition that makes your body produce tissue that’s thicker than it should be. It usually affects your skin, but can also cause symptoms throughout your body. If you have scleroderma, your immune system triggers your body’s cells to produce too much collagen.

Scleroderma - Wikipedia
Scleroderma is a group of autoimmune diseases that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. [2][6][8] The disease can be either localized to the skin or involve other organs as well. [2]

Scleroderma: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment - WebMD
Scleroderma is a chronic autoimmune condition affecting the skin and internal organs. Learn about scleroderma symptoms, types, causes, and treatments.

Systemic Sclerosis (Scleroderma): Pictures, Symptoms, Causes
SS is an autoimmune disease. It destroys healthy tissue because your body’s immune system mistakenly thinks your tissue is a foreign substance or infection. You then see fibrosis or scar tissue,...

Understanding Scleroderma - National Scleroderma Foundation
Scleroderma is a rare rheumatic disease that affects connective tissue and the vascular system producing excessive collagen that causes fibrosis in the skin (localized) or in internal organs (systemic sclerosis).

What is Scleroderma? - National Scleroderma Foundation
Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease which means that it is a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues. The normal role of the immune system is to provide protection from outside invaders such as bacteria and viruses.

Scleroderma Symptoms, Types, Causes, & Risk Factors | NIAMS
Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and fibrosis (thickening) in the skin and other areas of the body. When an immune response tricks tissues into thinking they are injured, it causes inflammation, and the body makes too much collagen, leading to scleroderma.

Scleroderma - NHS
Read about scleroderma, including the different types, symptoms, causes and treatments.

What is Scleroderma? : Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center
Scleroderma is classified as an autoimmune disease. This means that a person’s immune system works against itself. The normal immune system protects the body by fighting off foreign invaders such as viruses and infections.

* Rheumatology101 LATEST NEWS *

*Filter: "Scleroderma"

Christina Applegate reveals she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis: "Not happy at all"  CBS News
Wireless sensor may help track scleroderma skin changes at home  Scleroderma News
Anti–RNAP III Autoantibody Increases Cancer Risk in Scleroderma  Physicians Weekly
“My classmates and seniors gave me strange looks because of my appearance,': How this woman who is fighti  The Times of India
Lifelong Journey: A Scleroderma Patient and Her Doctor  Cedars-Sinai
Scleroderma: Your Questions Answered  Yale Medicine
Scleroderma Awareness Month highlights rare condition  UT Physicians
What Is Scleroderma? These Are the Signs You Could Have it  CreakyJoints
Systemic sclerosis physician video  Boehringer Ingelheim
Tulane rheumatologist named Doctor of the Year by Scleroderma Foundation  Tulane University News
Can AI help doctors track lung disease in scleroderma patients?  European Lung Foundation | ELF
Scleroderma’s threat is more than skin deep  UCHealth
For Scleroderma, Algorithm Helps Better Screen for Fatal Complication  Michigan Medicine
A family battle with scleroderma  NIH MedlinePlus Magazine (.gov)
For lung cancer survivor, third time’s the charm  UT MD Anderson

Common Rheumatological Symptoms

Joint Pain (Arthralgia) — Persistent discomfort or soreness in one or more joints caused by inflammation, wear and tear, or underlying autoimmune responses.
Morning Stiffness — Reduced joint mobility and tightness upon waking, often lasting over 30 to 60 minutes in inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.
Joint Swelling and Edema — Visible enlargement of affected joints resulting from fluid accumulation in the synovial membrane and inflamed surrounding tissue.
Localized Warmth and Redness — Elevated temperature and erythema skin discoloration surrounding inflamed joints due to increased blood flow from localized inflammation.
Systemic Fatigue — Overwhelming exhaustion and lack of energy caused by ongoing chronic inflammatory cytokine activity throughout the body.
Raynaud's Phenomenon — Temporary color changes in fingers or toes turning white, blue, and red in response to cold or stress due to vascular spasms.
Malar or Butterfly Rash — Red or purplish facial rash spanning across the bridge of the nose and cheeks, classically associated with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Milestones in Rheumatology History

c. 400 BC: Hippocratic Corpus Coining — Hippocrates uses the term "rheuma" to describe body humors flowing into joints, establishing the early classical concept of joint inflammation.
1592: Formal Definition of Rheumatism — French physician Guillaume de Baillou introduces the modern term "rheumatism" to distinguish systemic acute arthritis from localized gout.
1800: Clinical Description of Rheumatoid Arthritis — Augustin Jacob Landré-Beauvais publishes the first detailed clinical description separating rheumatoid arthritis from gout, calling it "asthenic gout."
1859: Naming of Rheumatoid Arthritis — Sir Alfred Baring Garrod formally coins the term "rheumatoid arthritis" to clearly differentiate the inflammatory autoimmune condition from osteoarthritis and gout.
1940: Discovery of the Rheumatoid Factor — Erik Waaler discovers autoantibodies in the blood of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, laying the groundwork for serological autoimmune diagnostics.
1948: Introduction of Corticosteroid Therapy — Philip Hench and Edward Kendall demonstrate the dramatic anti-inflammatory effects of Compound E (cortisone) in treating rheumatoid arthritis, earning the Nobel Prize.
1998: Emergence of Biologic DMARDs — The FDA approves the first TNF-alpha inhibitors, ushering in the modern era of targeted biologic therapies for autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

Current Trends in Rheumatology Research

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell Reset Therapy — Investigating engineered cellular therapies to achieve drug-free, durable clinical remissions by completely depleting pathogenic autoantibodies in severe refractory lupus and systemic sclerosis.
Selective TYK2 and Oral JAK Pathway Inhibition — Developing highly targeted, small-molecule oral inhibitors like deucravacitinib that disrupt specific cytokine signaling pathways while minimizing broader off-target side effects.
Targeted Pathogenic T-Cell and B-Cell Depletion — Evaluating novel biologics, such as rosnilimab and ianalumab, designed to selectively deplete overactive immune cell subpopulations involved in rheumatoid arthritis and Sjögren's disease.
Biomarker-Driven Precision Medicine — Utilizing pharmacogenomics and molecular biomarkers to predict individualized therapeutic responses and match systemic autoimmune conditions to specific biological mechanisms.
Subclinical Interception and Disease Prevention — Identifying seropositive individuals early using high-risk autoantibody profiles to initiate preventive targeted therapies before irreversible joint damage occurs.
Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Disease Modeling — Deploying machine learning algorithms across electronic health records and imaging modalities to forecast inflammatory flares and refine diagnostic accuracy.