Behcet's Disease

Behcet's Disease

Introduction

Behcet's disease is a disease which affects multiple organ systems. Characteristic features are recurrent ulcerative changes in the mouth and genital areas, as well as an involvement of the eyes. Suffering affects mainly young adults from the Mediterranean region and the Middle and Far East. Both sexes are about equally affected, but the course is often severe in men. The severity of the disease can usually over time and according to the life expectancy is hardly limited. 

The symptoms of this disease have been described for the first time in 500 before Christ by the great Greek physician Hippocrates. But only in 1937 Turkish dermatologist Dr. Hulusi Behçet correlated the onset of oral ulcers and recurrent genital and eye inflammation (uveitis) and considered these three aspects of the same disease symptoms (Zouboulis, 2003).

Behcet's disease is a rare disorder, chronic, characterized by an inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body. In addition to causing oral and genital ulcers recurrent ocular lesions and the disease can also cause various types of skin lesions, arthritis, thrombophlebitis, inflammation of the intestine and central nervous system. The common cause of these lesions is an inflammation of the arteries and veins. Behçet's disease usually starts at the age of 20-30 years, but all groups of age are affected. The disease is widespread throughout the world, even though its incidence is low. There are no precise data on its impact on Italy. The areas with the highest incidence ranging from the Mediterranean to Japan along the Silk Road. The causes of the disease are not known.

It is not an infectious disease or contagious nor transmission occurs through sexual contact. The researchers think that there is a genetic predisposition and that the disease in the individual is prepared caused by an infectious agent or from some other cause is not known. Patients with Behçet's disease often have defects in their immune system, which is the body's natural defense against bacterial and viral infections. Behçet's disease is characterized over the years by periods of remission (absence disease activity) and exacerbation (recurrence of disease activity). Symptoms may take several days or weeks, or may persist for months or years. All symptoms cause discomfort and different levels of disabilities that interfere with the quality of life (National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, 2009). 

Discussion

Vasculitis

Under vasculitis inflammation and damage to blood vessels are understood. The blood flow is restricted by it and the resulting damage supplied by the affected blood vessels, tissues and organs. The range for the resulting discomfort can, depending on which organs are affected by the disease, wide. In most cases, the cause of vasculitis is an impaired response of the body's defense system, the so-called immune system in question. The knowledge of the triggering factors and the development of disease in this case are still very limited. Known as causative agents' infectious diseases as well as tumors or drugs in question. 

Causes

The cause and pathogenesis of the disease are unknown. Observed is an inflammation of the blood vessels in the affected organs, also known as vasculitis. In the inflamed vessels, it often comes to blood clots, which can close the ...