Wegener's Granulomatosis: What is it and What Causes It?

Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) is believed to be an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and constriction of the blood vessels. This disorder can affect the sinuses, the lungs and the kidneys and liver. The organs become compromised because the blood flow to the organs is severely impaired. If a diagnosis is made early, an individual should recover without any serious complications; this condition usually only affects the lungs. However, WG can prove to be fatal when the disease causes the liver or the kidneys to shut down.

What causes?

The medical community doesn't know very much about Wegener's granulomatosis. The doctors know more about what Wegener's granulomatosis isn't than what it is. Scientists don't all agree to what causes this disease. Some believe that Wegener's granulomatosis could be caused by toxins in the environment. Others believe that genetics may play a part in this disease. Many in the medical community believe that Wegener's granulomatosis could be caused by a mistaken autoimmune response.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of WG usually come on suddenly, and the condition can rapidly progress into a serious illness. The symptoms may mimic an upper respiratory infection at first, and then the symptoms will quickly indicate that something else is going on inside the body.

The symptoms include:

• Sinusitis (inflammation of the sinuses)
• Constant rhinitis (a runny nose)
• Coughing
• Hemoptysis (coughing up blood)
• Shortness of breath
• Fever
• Weight loss
• Fatigue
• Joint aches and pains
• Swelling in the joints
• Sores on the skin
• Scarring of the skin
• Redness and painful irritation of the eyes
• Double vision
• Decreased visual acuity
• Hearing loss
• Anemia
• Chest pain

The decreased blood flow throughout the body will cause extreme fatigue and anemia; the anemia can compromise many of the major organs and systems of the body. The organs most at risk from the anemia are the liver and kidneys. If the disease advances quickly enough without proper treatment, the patient can die of liver, kidney or even heart failure. The patient could die from a heart attack.

When should you see a doctor?

If you have cold symptoms such as a runny nose persistent coughing that has not responded to over-the-counter medications, see your physician as soon as possible. If cold symptoms don't go away in a few days, you might not have a cold at all. Even if it isn't Wegener's granulomatosis, you could have something serious, so don't ignore your symptoms.

Conclusion

WG can cause granulated tissue to form in the ears, which can cause hearing loss. Granulation tissue, from this disease, forms to replace normal tissues in the airways of the respiratory system and other organ systems. When the kidneys become compromised by the disease, a condition called glomerulonephritis develops which causes renal failure. Thus, when urinary waste products cannot be filtered out of the blood by the kidneys, death can occur shortly from uremia. If liver damage has occurred, the patient could suffer from hepatic failure. Therefore, anyone who starts out with cold symptoms and gets progressively worse should not ignore the symptoms. A doctor should examine the patient to identify the problem.

The diagnostics and treatment options will be discussed in a future article.