The Scleroderma Book: A Guide for Patients and Families

An autoimmune disease in the family with Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Polymyositis, Scleroderma afflicts hundreds of thousands of people in the United States. And yet there are very few sources of information for men and women with this disease. Now, in The Scleroderma Book, one of the nation's leading authorities provides a comprehensive guide written specifically for patients and their families. Dr. Maureen Mayes has drawn on her extensive experience treating scleroderma to provide up-to-date, practical information that will help patients manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life. Dr. Mayes begins with an easily accessible description of the basic facts, distinguishing between the many manifestations of the disease, ranging from localized scleroderma (small patches of hardened skin, most common in children, which tend to clear up over time) to systemic scleroderma, which can attack the lungs, the kidneys, and the blood vessels, and can be life threatening. Equally important, she offers sympathetic and reassuring advice on matters that often concern patients, such as the best course of action for those who want children, what to do if the disease affects your sex life, and what you can do to help your doctor treat your illness more effectively. The book concludes with a good-humored, frank discussion about how to cope, day in and day out, with an uncertain future--how to be a "person living with" scleroderma, not a "victim suffering from" it. Touching on virtually every aspect of this disorder, The Scleroderma Book can be used as a reliable source of information and reassurance for patients of any age and no matter how severe their form of the disease.