I am a 50 year old African American woman. 7 years ago, I arrived at the emergency room with a nagging cough, chest pains and shortness of breath. Since it was flu season, most people were in there with simular symptons.
I was given the routine test...blood test, urine test, chest x-ray, EKG. After waiting a couple hours, the doctor admits me for more test due to results of my chest x-ray. he described it as having several spots and modules and needed to make sure that everything was ok. In other words it was 1 of two things: Sarcoidosis(which I had never heard of) or Cancer.

Needless to say, I was petrofied. It's kind of hard to get a good night sleep, when the doctor is not sure of your prognosis.

A specialist was called in to review my case. True enough I had Sarcoidosis..Thank God.
Sarcoidosis is an inflammation in which lymphocytes, a type of blood cell, become overactive. These overactive lymphocytes release chemical substances which cause granulomas (a collection of inflammatory cells) in various organs of the body. Although sarcoidosis is a multisystem disorder, it affects the lungs 90% of the time, making it primarily a lung disease. It is commonly known as a autoimmune disease.

So far, research has shown that sarcoidosis is not caused by any known bacteria, mold or dust particles. Nor is it due to any gases or fumes. Some researchers believe that sarcoidosis is caused by a virus, but the nature of such an agent remains unclear.

This is very scary but I live with it daily. Prednisone keeps it under control but has many side effects such as anxiety, ostioporosis. But currently that is the strongest drug on the market and has the best results. I have severe scarring (fibrosis) of the lungs can this can cause respiratory failure.

As long as I take my medication, I can carry on my usual social, intellectual, artistic and athletic activities. Most of the time it will not interfere with my life style, nor interfere with the achievement of my goals. Like any other disease, we get the cards that are dealt to us and try to re-shuffle the deck to be the winner. That's my daily goal.

There is currently no cure. . In African-American patients the disease tends to be chronic and responds poorly to treatment. The reason for this is unknown.

Learn more about this author, Basha J.
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