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© Dirk Biddle
In the interests of verifiability: The method used to produce this article was to use Google to search for a main term or phrase and then I browsed through the first 10 or 20 “hits”, and then summarised and edited the main points contained within each. Sometimes links within links were also followed. The reader should be able to verify any contentious point by utilising the same method. Where online sources disagreed (and this was more often than should be) wherever possible verification of the summary was then conducted by reference to published journal articles. Thus I have included nothing that is not generally agreed upon or has not been scientifically verified. Unfortunately, when I set out to write this article it was not with a scientific approach in mind. It was initially intended as a short summary. However, the further I went the more I realised of the story needed to be told. I am working on getting the references into the document, but in the meantime, this will have to suffice. The glossary was constructed utilising two online medical dictionary sources: the MedlinePlus: Medical Dictionary and the Online Medical Dictionary from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. The definitions drawn from each are marked M+ and OMD respectively. The reader is strongly encouraged to refer often to the glossary.
The Vasculitides are inflammatory, destructive processes affecting arteries and veins. They are serious and sometimes fatal conditions that require prompt recognition and therapy and they may affect virtually any organ in the body, including the lymph vessels, skin, muscles, nerves, the brain, stomach, heart, lungs and kidneys. The vasculitides are relatively rare diseases with incidences sometimes measured in individuals per million. They are often difficult to classify, describe and to diagnose, not only as their cause (or causes) are often unknown, but also because their symptoms often overlap - with other vasculitis conditions and with other disease processes – and are often non-specific, suggesting a range of alternative and possibly unrelated syndromes. They are particularly unpleasant diseases to contract, not only because of the destructive systemic affects they often have on the body, but also because their treatment often involves medications that have adverse side-effects and that often need to be repeatedly administered over years, if not a lifetime. None of the vasculitides are known to be contagious.
Internet searches will turn up many articles related to the vasculitides. Some are couched in terminology difficult for the layperson to interpret, while others are just too simplistic and not comprehensive enough to satisfy intellectual curiosity or the needs of the person reading them. Too often internet articles will disagree with each other, particularly in terms of the basic information they present such as prevalence rates, descriptive terminology, nomenclature and crucially, best practice treatment.
This article attempts then to provide a broad but comprehensive overview of the vasculitides, drawing on internet sources as well as peer reviewed publications in an attempt to accurately define and to describe the major vasculitides and to clarify many of the issues and concerns people might have surrounding them. This article will be most useful for those wishing to learn more about the vasculitides in terms of gaining a broad and comprehensive general understanding.
Please note that this article is not intended as static documentation and will be subject to update or amendment as time permits and new information comes to hand. Over time, more information may be added and amendments made to various sections. The reader is therefore invited to check back every so often to see if particular sections of interest to them may have been updated or revised with new information. Comments or feedback on this article are welcome.
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