Osler's Disease and Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits
Oslers disease is a disease that is characterized by the formation of multiple abnormalities in your blood vessels (veins and arteries). These abnormal blood vessels may occur in places like your mucous membranes, skin and often times in organs like your brain, lungs and liver. When your circulatory system is working like it ought to, blood that is transporting oxygen is pumped by your heart out of your lungs at high pressure into your arteries. By the time this blood reaches your capillaries and then flows into your veins, the pressure has gotten much lower. If you are suffering from Oslers disease, some of your arteries go directly into your veins rather than being buffered by your capillaries. The high pressure has a tendency to strain and enlarge your veins due to the fact that they are not as elastic and have thinner walls than your arteries do. This may bring about compression or irritation of your adjacent tissues and frequent episodes of severe bleeding (hemorrhage). There are different kinds of Oslers disease. These include type 1, type 2 and type 3. There is a higher risk for blood vessel malformations in your lungs and brain when you are afflicted with type 1 of Oslers disease. You are at a greater risk for malformations in your liver if you are suffering from type 2 or type 3. Women are affected by blood vessel malformations in their liver and lungs with both type 1 and type 2 more often than men are. Oslers disease is known by other names. It is also referred to as hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia and Osler-Weber-Rendu disease. Oslers disease is brought about by a missing or mutated (defective) gene. Researchers have been able to identify some of the genes that are responsible for leading to Oslers disease, but they have not yet discovered the way in which these gene defects result in these blood vessel malformations. Oslers disease is a disease that is passed down to you by your parents. The pattern of inheritance is what is known as autosomal dominant. What this means is that you only have to inherit a defective (mutated) gene from one of your parents in order to have the possibility of getting Oslers disease. There are several different signs and symptoms that you may experience, which may be an indication of Oslers disease. Some of these are:- Black, tar-like stools
- Unexplained, small strokes
- Vomiting, coughing up blood
- Dizziness, drowsiness
- Frequent, sudden nosebleeds
- Breathing problems, blue lips, domed fingernails (drumstick fingers)
- Occasional paralysis
- Fatigue
- A pale appearance
- Seizures (epilepsy)
- Brain aneurysms
- Shortness of breath when exercising
- Lesions in your mouth and on your skin that may bleed
- Digestive tract lesions