What are the causes and treatments of scleroderma?
Scleroderma: Causes Scleroderma results from an overproduction and accumulation of collagen in body tissues. Collagen is a fibrous type of protein that makes up your body’s connective tissues, including your skin. Although doctors aren’t sure what prompts this abnormal collagen production, the body’s immune system appears to play a role. For unknown reasons, the immune system turns against the body, producing inflammation and the overproduction of collagen. Risk factors Several factors appear to increase the risk of certain types of scleroderma: Race Native Americans. Choctaw Native Americans in Oklahoma are at least 20 times more likely than is the general population to develop systemic scleroderma. Oddly enough, this increased risk doesn’t apply to Choctaws living in Mississippi. African-Americans. Systemic scleroderma is more common in African-Americans than it is in Americans of European descent. And the African-Americans who have systemic scleroderma are more likely to develop sev
