Vasculitis Blood Vessels Inflammation Causes Systemic, Organ Symptoms for Medication Treatment

Vasculitis is a condition wherein your blood vessels become inflamed, making it difficult, sometimes impossible, for life sustaining blood to make it through. This inflammation is caused by your immune system erroneously attacking its own arteries, veins and capillaries.

Undoubtedly, this type of attack can lead to some very serious health complications.

There are two classifications of symptoms you may experience with vasculitis, those affecting you generally (systemic) and those affecting a specific organ or body system. Common systemic signs indicative of body wide vessel inflammation include:

  • fever
  • weight/appetite loss
  • generalized aches/pains
  • fatigue/weakness/paralysis
  • painful chewing/swallowing
  • confusion/forgetfulness ~ dementia

Symptoms for organ or system attacks on vessels causing their inflammation:

Although the cause for vasculitis is oftentimes unknown, it sometimes is:

Most cases of vasculitis are treated with prescription medications in an effort to put the brakes on your immune systems inflammatory responses. The two typical drugs used as treatment for vasculitis are:

There are many different disorders classified as types of vasculitis, differing in terms of population and which organs affected, like:

  • Behcet’s Disease ~ often younger of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Far Eastern descent
  • Buerger’s Disease ~ affects blood flow to hands and feet; more likely in smokers
  • Central Nervous System Vasculitis ~ affects brain, sometimes spinal cord
  • Churg-Strauss Syndrome ~ lungs, skin, kidneys, and heart; asthma history
  • Cryoglobulinemia ~ lower limb rash, arthritis, nerve damage; those with lymphoma, hepatitis C
  • Giant Cell Arteritis ~ headache, fever, blurred vision, pain in the jaw, shoulders, or hips; affecting adults older than 50 years; Scandinavian higher risk
  • Henoch-Schonlein Purpura ~ commonly affects the skin, kidneys, joints, stomach; often found in children following upper respiratory infection
  • Microscopic Polyangiitis ~ often affects the kidneys, skin, nerves
  • Polyarteritis Nodosa ~ commonly affects the kidneys, skin, and nerves; thirties/forties age group, men more likely; associated with chronic hepatitis B, hairy cell leukemia
  • Polymyalgia Rheumatica ~ large joints (shoulders and hips); along with giant cell arteritis
  • Rheumatoid Vasculitis ~ occurs with rheumatoid arthritis
  • Takayasu’s Arteritis ~ affects the aorta & its branches; Asian women under 40
  • Wegener’s Granulomatosis ~ upper respiratory tract (nose, sinuses, and throat), lungs, kidneys; middle-aged plus

The future for those suffering from vasculitis varies greatly. Treatment is often effective if diagnosed early and your “out of control immune response” tackled quickly.

Vasculitis may disappear, go into periods of remission or be chronic. In some severe cases, it can lead to disability or death.

As for now, there is no evidence supporting a specific diet to combat an immune system gone wild. However, as with most health issues, following a healthy diet plan and regular exercise is encouraged.

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