Are you aware of vasculitis?

Have you ever felt like you were going crazy, your joints ached, or your skin was getting all sorts of rashes or spots? We often forget about these things, thinking that they are normal. But sometimes, behind these small symptoms, there may be a more serious condition that we have not heard of. Today, we are going to talk about one such disease, namely Vasculitis . This name may be new to you. But it is very important to be aware of this.

What is Vasculitis? Let's understand it simply.

Simply put, Vasculitis is an inflammation or swelling of your blood vessels, that is, blood vessels . Now you may be wondering what these blood vessels are. Let's explain that a little.

Think of the blood vessel system in our body as a network of roads throughout Sri Lanka. These roads carry oxygen and nutrients to every cell in our body. There are three main types of this network of roads:

• Arteries: These are like the main highways. These large blood vessels carry clean blood from the heart throughout the body.
• Veins: These are the pathways that bring used blood, that is, dirty blood, back to the heart.
• Capillaries: These are the little byways that connect the highways and other roads. Every cell in the body receives nutrients from the blood through these tiny blood vessels.

Now do you understand? Vasculitis affects the network of blood vessels. When this disease occurs, the walls of the blood vessels become swollen and thickened. Just as a road becomes narrow and difficult for vehicles to pass through, it becomes difficult for blood to flow through these narrowed vessels.

Many people can control these symptoms with medication. However, if blood flow to vital organs is cut off, this can be a life-threatening condition.

Where does vasculitis affect the body?

In fact, it can affect any part of the body that has blood vessels. This means that it can affect any organ from the head to the feet.

Here are some of the main areas where impacts may occur:

• Skin
• Lungs
• Heart
• Nerves
• Eyes
• Kidneys
• Brain
• Sinuses
• Stomach and Intestines (Stomach)
• Hands and feet

What are the common symptoms of vasculitis?

The symptoms of this disease can vary greatly from person to person. It depends on which organ the blood vessels are affected by and how severe the inflammation is. For example, if someone has blood vessels in their skin affected, they may develop a rash and red spots on their skin. If someone else has kidney disease, they may have blood in their urine.

However, there are some common symptoms that are not specific to this disease. If you experience several of these symptoms together, you should definitely see a doctor.

Why does this Vasculitis occur?

This is a bit of a complicated question. Vasculitis is an autoimmune disease . What does this mean?

Our body has a very clever defense system. We call it the immune system. Its job is to protect us from disease by fighting germs (viruses, bacteria) that enter the body. However, in an autoimmune disease, this defense system becomes faulty and starts attacking our own healthy cells instead of a foreign invader.

In vasculitis, your immune system attacks your own blood vessels . Scientists still don't know exactly why this happens.

However, it has been found that certain things can trigger this condition.

• Infections: This condition can occur after certain viral or bacterial infections.
• Other autoimmune diseases: If you already have another autoimmune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, you are at higher risk of developing vasculitis.
• Certain medications: Rarely, this can also occur as a reaction to certain medications.
• Some types of cancer: This condition can also be caused by things like blood cancers.

Are there types of this disease?

Yes, there are more than 30 types of this. They are mainly classified according to the size of the blood vessels affected (large, medium, small) and their location. If we were to talk about all these types, both you and I would get lost. So let's just know the names of a few of the main types that are discussed.

• ANCA-associated vasculitis: This has several subtypes.
• Giant cell arteritis: This is a type that most often affects people over the age of 50 and affects the large arteries in the head and neck.
• Takayasu arteritis: This is also a type that affects large arteries.
• Polyarteritis nodosa
• Kawasaki disease: This is a type that most often occurs in young children.
• IgA vasculitis (Henoch-Schönlein purpura): This is also common among children.

You don't need to remember these names. The most important thing is for the doctor to identify exactly which type you have, because the treatment will depend on that type.

How does a doctor diagnose this disease?

Diagnosing vasculitis can be a bit challenging because its symptoms are similar to those of many other diseases. Therefore, a doctor will not immediately call it vasculitis.

When you go to see a doctor, he will first listen to your symptoms and learn about them. Then he will examine your body. In addition, he will order several tests to confirm the diagnosis.

• Blood tests: These help to check for inflammation in the body (tests like ESR, CRP), and for specific antibodies like ANCA.
• Urine tests: These can determine if the kidneys have been affected.
• Biopsy: This is the best way to confirm the disease. This involves taking a very small piece of tissue from an affected organ (e.g. skin, kidney) and examining it under a microscope.
• Angiogram: This is a special X-ray-like test that looks at the inside of your blood vessels. It can check if your blood vessels are narrowed or swollen.

After these tests, you will likely be referred to a doctor who specializes in inflammatory diseases like this, a rheumatologist .

What are the treatments for vasculitis?

There are two main goals in treating vasculitis.

1. Controlling inflammation.

2. Stopping the malfunctioning of the immune system.

Medicines are mainly used for this.

• Corticosteroids: These are powerful medications that quickly control inflammation. Prednisolone is the most commonly used drug in this class.
• Immunosuppressants: These drugs control the activity of the immune system, which mistakenly attacks the body.

This treatment method will be determined by your doctor based on the type and severity of your condition. Sometimes, if there is significant damage to the blood vessels, surgery may be necessary to repair it.

When should I seek medical advice?

This is the most important part of this article. Listen to your body carefully. If you feel any changes or abnormalities, don't ignore them.

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