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Posts Tagged ‘Connective Tissue’

MTCD and Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits

Saturday, August 13th, 2011
Adipose tissue is one of the main types of con...

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MTCD stands for mixed connective tissue disease. MTCD is used by some doctors to describe a disorder that is evidenced by characteristics of three connective tissue diseases, which are scleroderma, lupus and polymyositis. Because of these qualities, MTCD is sometimes known as an overlap disease.

MTCD is a disorder that occurs most often in women. In fact, women represent about 80% of the people with this disorder. MTCD is diagnosed most often in young adults in their 20s and 30s. However, MTCD may develop anywhere from ages 5 to 80, as children have occasionally been diagnosed with this disorder. MTCD takes place in all races all over the world.

MTCD is a kind of connective tissue disease. It is evidenced by abnormal structure or function of your connective tissue.

A connective tissue disease is any disease that has the connective tissues of your body as its main target. Your connective tissues are the structural portions of your body. They essentially hold the cells of your body together. These connective tissues form a framework or matrix for your body.

Researchers do not know what causes MTCD. MTCD is part of a larger group of diseases that are referred to as autoimmune disorders. Your autoimmune system is what fights any thing foreign that invades your body. An autoimmune disorder is when your immune system for some unknown reason mistakes normal, healthy cells and tissues as invaders. In other words, your immune system attacks your own body’s tissues and cells.

No one knows for sure why your immune system does this. Researchers believe that it may be a complex mixture of genetic factors, viruses and chemicals that may be why this takes place.

MTCD does not have a set of signs and symptoms that are unique to it. Instead, the signs and symptoms of MTCD will be like those of scleroderma, polymyositis and lupus. However, the signs and symptoms of these three diseases do not usually take place at the same time. Some of these signs and symptoms include:

  • Muscle weakness
  • Mild fever
  • Fatigue
  • Raynaud’s phenomenon – This is blood vessel spasms that interrupt the flow of blood to your ears, nose, finger and toes
  • Joint swelling
  • Swollen fingers
  • Joint pain.
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Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Receiving Social Security Disability

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

Connective tissue disease refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders. Some of these conditions are inherited, and some are acquired.

A connective tissue disease is any disease that has the connective tissues of your body as a primary target. Your connective tissues are the structural portions of your body. They essentially hold the cells of your body together. These connective tissues form a matrix, or framework, for your body.

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) is a group of inherited conditions that affect your connective tissues. Primarily, it affects your joints, blood vessel walls and skin.

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is marked by genetic defects (mutations) disrupting the production of collagen. Collagen is one of the main components of connective tissue.

Several types of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome have been identified with different signs and symptoms. However, all types of this syndrome affect your joints, and most of them affect your skin.

Classical type Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which used to be known as types I and II, affects about 1 in 10,000 to 20,000 people in the United States. Some of its signs and symptoms are:

  • Muscle pain and fatigue
  • Fragile skin that tears or bruises easily
  • Poor and slow wound healing that results in wide scarring
  • Loose joints
  • Heart valve problems (aortic root dilation and mitral valve prolapse)
  • Highly elastic, velvety skin
  • Noncancerous fibrous growths on pressure areas of your body like your knees and elbows
  • Redundant skin folds in places like your eyelids
  • Fatty growths on your forearms and shins.

Hypermobility type Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which used to be known as type III, affects about 1 in 10,000 to 15,000 people in the United States. Signs and symptoms of this type include:

  • Chronic degenerative joint disease
  • Bruising easily
  • Unstable, loose joints with many dislocations
  • Advanced premature osteoarthritis that involves chronic pain
  • Heart valve problems, as mentioned with classic type
  • Muscle pain and fatigue.

Vascular type Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which used to be called type IV, affects about 1 in 100,000 to 200,000 people in this country. It is rare, but it is one of the most serious types of EDS. Signs and symptoms include:

  • Pneumothorax (collapsed lung)
  • Heart valve problems
  • Fragile blood vessels and organs that are prone to rupture (tearing)
  • A characteristic facial appearance that includes sunken cheeks, thin lips and nose, small chin and protruding eyes
  • Thin, translucent skin that bruises easily.

There are other types of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, but they are extremely rare.

You or a loved one may have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. EDS and/or complications resulting from it may be why you are disabled and in need of financial help.

You or your loved one may have applied for financial assistance from the Social Security Administration by applying for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits because of the disability caused by Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and/or complications resulting from it. Were you or your loved one denied?

If you or your loved one reapplies or appeals the denial, consider this. People who are represented by a disability attorney like the ones you can find at Social Security Home are approved more often than people who do not have a disability lawyer.

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Marfan Syndrome and Receiving Social Security Disability

Friday, November 26th, 2010

Marfan syndrome is a genetic or inherited disorder that affects your connective tissue. Connective tissues are the fibers that provide the support and framework for your body.

As a result, Marfan syndrome can affect many of your body systems. These include your eyes, skeleton, heart and blood vessels. The damage can be mild or severe that is caused by Marfan syndrome. This disorder can cause life-threatening complications.

People who have Marfan syndrome are usually tall and thin. They have disproportionately long legs, toes, fingers and arms. Some experts think Abraham Lincoln may have had Marfan syndrome.

Marfan syndrome is named after a French pediatrician, Antoine Marfan. He first described the condition in 1896 after noticing striking features in a 5 year old girl.

Marfan syndrome affects men and women equally. This disorder happens in at least 1 in 5,000 people according to the National Institutes of Health. This means that anywhere from 60,000 to 200,000 people in the United States have Marfan syndrome.

The signs and symptoms of Marfan syndrome vary greatly, even among members of the same family. The reason for this is because this disorder can affect so many of the systems of your body. Some people have life-threatening complications, while others experience only mild effects.

Marfan syndrome usually worsens with age. With this disorder it is more features to look for rather than signs and symptoms. Some of these effects are:

§  Crowded teeth and a high, arched palate

§  A curved spine

§  A breastbone that dips inward or protrudes outward

§  Flat feet

§  Tall and slender build

§  Disproportionately long arms, fingers, legs and toes

§  Extreme nearsightedness

§  Heart murmurs.

You or a loved one may have Marfan syndrome. This may be the reason why you are disabled and unable to work.

You or your loved one may need help if this is true. You may need financial help because of the disability caused by Marfan syndrome.

Where will you get the financial assistance that you or your loved one needs? Who can help you? Who will help you?

You or you loved one may have applied for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits from the Social Security Administration because of the disability caused by Marfan syndrome. Were you or your loved one denied?

You or your loved one may be thinking about appealing the denial by the Social Security Administration. If this is what you decide to do, here is something important for you to remember.

You or your loved one may need the representation of a disability attorney like the one you will find at here in what can prove to be a long and trying procedure. This is true because people who are represented by a determined disability lawyer are approved more often than those without an attorney.

Do not wait. This is something of great importance to you or your loved one. Contact the disability lawyer at Social Security Home, today.

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Diffuse Scleroderma and Receiving Social Security Disability

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010
A diagrammatic sectional view of the skin (mag...
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The word “scleroderma means “hardening of the skin”. Scleroderma refers to a group of diseases that cause abnormal growth of your connective tissue. These are the proteins that support your organs and skin. They are the fibers that provide the support and framework for your body. It is a rare, progressive disease that leads to hardening and tightening of your connective tissues and skin.

Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease of your connective tissue. Autoimmune diseases are illnesses in which your body’s tissues are attacked by your own immune system.

Scleroderma is generally classified as one of the autoimmune rheumatic diseases. These are diseases that are characterized by pain in your joints or muscles.

Scleroderma is divided into two main types, localized and systemic. Localized scleroderma affects only your skin. Systemic scleroderma affects your blood vessels and internal organs, as well as your skin.

Diffuse scleroderma is one of the two main kinds of systemic scleroderma. The other is limited scleroderma, which is also called CREST syndrome.

Diffuse scleroderma is the most aggressive and serious type of scleroderma. It usually involves a rapid development of thickening of your skin that starts with your face and hands and progresses to your trunk and arms. Diffuse scleroderma also may involve your internal organs at an early point in the course of the disease.

There are several signs and symptoms that you may experience with diffuse scleroderma. Some of these are:

  • Raynaud’s phenomenon – This is your toes and fingers losing circulation and turning white with exposure to cold.
  • Red swollen hands
  • Painful joints
  • Fatigue and/or unintentional weight loss
  • Morning stiffness
  • Thickening of your skin that starts as “puffiness” or swelling  of your hands and fingers
  • Shiny, hard and leathery skin that can be widespread and found on both sides of your body
  • Early internal organ involvement
  • Major depression.

You or a loved one may have diffuse scleroderma. This disease and/or complications resulting from it may be the reason why you or your loved one is not able to work. It may be the cause of your disability.

If this is true, you may need assistance. You may need financial help.

You or your loved one may be intending to apply for the financial assistance that you need from the Social Security Administration by applying for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits because of the disability caused by diffuse scleroderma and/or complications resulting from this disease. Or, you or your loved one may have already tried this option and been denied by the Social Security Administration.

If you or your loved one is planning on appealing the denial by the Social Security Administration, here is something important that you should know. People who have a disability attorney working for them like the one you will find at Social Security Home are approved more often than people who are not represented by a disability lawyer.

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Fibromyalgia and Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

Do you hurt all over? Do you feel exhausted, with no energy most of the time? Have you had several tests, and your doctor still cannot find anything specifically wrong with you?  If this is your case you may have fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia was first recognized as an illness in 1987, by the American Medical Association. In 1987, Dr. Don Goldenberg published a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association and called the syndrome fibromyalgia.

Before 1987, fibromyalgia was known by several names. It was known as muscular rheumatism, chronic muscle pain syndrome, chronic widespread pain, fibrositis, psychogenic rheumatism, tension myalgias and tension myositis syndrome.

Fibromyalgia affects around 2-6% of the population of America. It is estimated that 1 in 50 people in the United States have fibromyalgia. This means that somewhere around 7 to 10 million people are living with fibromyalgia in America.

Women have fibromyalgia 7 to 9 times more commonly than men. Fibromyalgia is found in all age groups, and it affects people in all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Fibromyalgia is a painful, chronic condition that primarily causes signs and symptoms in your musculoskeletal system. Fibromyalgia causes widespread pain in your tendons, ligaments and muscles, as well as fatigue and exhaustion.  It produces tender points on your body. Places where slight pressure causes pain.

The effects of fibromyalgia can vary, depending on physical activity, stress, the weather or even the time of day. Some of the common ways that you may be affected are:

  • Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
  • Widespread pain
  • Facial pain and headaches
  • Sleep disturbances and fatigue
  • Greater sensitivity
  • Chest pain
  • Dizziness
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Mood changes
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Tingling or numbness in your feet and hands
  • Mood changes
  • Dry skin, mouth and eyes.

These effects caused by fibromyalgia may be the reason you or a loved one is unable to work. Fibromyalgia may be the cause of your disability.

You or your loved one may need help. You may need financial assistance.

Are you or your loved one considering applying for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits from the Social Security Administration because of the disability caused by fibromyalgia? Have you already done this and been denied?

What options do you have now? What recourse do you have? What do you next?

One option that you or your loved one has is to appeal the denial by the Social Security Administration. If you decide to do this, here is something important that you need to know.

You or your loved one may need a disability lawyer like the one you will find here to represent you in this procedure. The reason this is true is because people who are represented by a caring disability attorney are approved more often than those people who do not have a lawyer.

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