Goodpasture’s Syndrome
Goodpasture’s Syndrome
Goodpasture’s syndrome is a disease rarely seen among people. This disease affects people of white origin than that of black and it hits men than women. It affects men at their age of 20 to 30 years and cause pulmonary-renal syndrome. While women are mostly gets affected between 60 to 70 years of age. This is an autoimmune disease in which the body produces antibodies against the kidneys and lungs.
Causes of Goodhearted Syndrome
The immune system of the body may develop a substance called anti-glomerular basement membrane anti-bodies. These anti-bodies attack the protein called collagen present in the glomureli which is the filtering unit of the kidney. This is a hereditary disease. Exposure to some chemicals may also cause this disease. Exposure to weed killing paraquat, hydrocarbon solvents etc may increases your risk of getting goodpasture’s syndrome. Certain viral infections may also trigger your immune system to produce anti-bodies against kidneys and lungs.
Symptoms of Goodpasture’s Syndrome
Goodpasture’s syndrome may cause the affected person to cough and spit blood. The patients may also have a burning sensation while urinating. The color of the urine may turn in to red or brown as there may be blood in the urine. Sometimes the urine may accompany protein too. The patient may also experience nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite, anemia, respiratory problems etc. It may also increase the blood pressure and cause swelling in different parts of the body. The skin may turn in to pale color. Ultimately this may lead to kidney failure and heart diseases.
The affected person has to be treated in order to remove these anti-bodies. There is a treatment method called plasmapheresis that may filter and get rid of these anti-bodies from the blood stream. There are immuno-suppressive drugs that can prevent the immune system from making anti-bodies. Corticosteroids can help you to prevent the bleeding from the lungs. In severe cases kidney transplantations are required.
