Does anyone know what Vasculities Is?!

Does anyone know what Vasculities Is?

I have been sick for the longest time. I have been to many doctors and know one could figure it out. I recently went to a rheumatologist and he did blood work on me. He called me back and sayed that he did a test called (anca) and it came back positive. He sayed I have Vasculities. I looked it up on line and it sounds really bad. I have three children and a husband aim I going to be ok. I am really scared. Can someone explain to me what this Illness does? I really didnt understand it on line. Please help

You can't see a doctor and just sit & nod your head when your doctor gives you a diagnosis. You also need to understand the diagnosis and how it affects you. Ask questions and get answers and then make sure you understand the answers to your questions. I can't stress this enough. Too many people fail to question the doctor and then go home and go online to try to get the information they should have, could have, gotten from the physician. But I also understand how information can be overwhelming at the time.

Your condition is called vasculitis, also called angiitis (this is not a typo. It's pronounced "an-gee-EYE-tis"). It's an inflammation of the blood vessels. It can be caused by a systemic disease or an allergic reaction. Among the many different types of vasculitis are allegic, necrotizing, nodular, cutaneous, isolated CNS, Wegener's and segmented hyalinizing vasculitis. But I don't know which you have as you didn't say and perhaps your doctor didn't tell you.

The body's own immune system attacks the blood vessels. It can be short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic). It can cause changes in the the large or small vessels, changes such as thickening, weakening, narrowing and scarring. This can affect blood flow to nearby organs serviced by those vessels. Many cases are minor and resolve on their own or can be treated with medication.

The treatment depends on the severity and what, if any, organs are involved. Typically, cortisone type medications are used (prednisone) and immune suppressing drungs like Cytoxan can be used. If there is organ involvement, that requires a separate treatment approach.

There is a website for the Vasculitis Center you may find helpful. Go to http://www.vasculitis.med.jhu.edu...

I hope that yours is short-term and self-resolving.

FYI: 3 diseases are consistently associated with ANCA: Wegener's granulomatosis, microscopic polyangiitis & glomerulonephritis (not a factor). The c-ANCA is associated with Wegener's and the p-ANCA is associated with polyangiitis.