Open AccessWhen there’s smoke there’s…scleroderma: evidence that patients with scleroderma should stop smoking
Author(s) -
Leask Andrew
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of cell communication and signaling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1873-961X
pISSN - 1873-9601
DOI - 10.1007/s12079-010-0111-1
Subject(s) - medicine , scleroderma (fungus) , pulmonary hypertension , lung fibrosis , pulmonary fibrosis , disease , fibrosis , dermatology , interstitial lung disease , affect (linguistics) , lung , pathology , linguistics , philosophy , inoculation
There is no treatment for the autoimmune disease scleroderma (systemic sclerosis, SSc), a multisystem disorder characterized by vascular damage and fibrosis. In particular, SSc can severely affect the lung, resulting in pulmonary arterial hypertension and fibrosis. Smoking is well‐known to affect pulmonary health, and a recent report (Hudson et al., Arthritis Rheum, in press Oct 8) provides convincing evidence that stopping smoking improves disease outcome in SSc patients. This commentary discusses this recent publication which suggests that physicians should encourage SSc patients to stop smoking immediately.