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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffSeveral factors appear to increase the risk of certain types of scleroderma:
Race
- Native Americans. Choctaw Native Americans in Oklahoma are at least 20 times more likely than is the general population to develop systemic scleroderma. Oddly enough, this increased risk doesn't apply to Choctaws living in Mississippi.
- African-Americans. Systemic scleroderma is more common in African-Americans than it is in Americans of European descent. And the African-Americans who have systemic scleroderma are more likely to develop severe lung complications.
Sex
Scleroderma occurs at least four times more often in women than it does in men.
Environmental factors
Exposure to a variety of substances may be linked to the development of scleroderma. Examples include:
- Silica dust, which is common in coal mines and rock quarries
- Some industrial solvents, such as paint thinners
- Certain chemotherapy drugs
- Scleroderma. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Scleroderma/default.asp. Accessed Aug. 4, 2008.
- Hummers LK, et al. Scleroderma. In: Imboden JB, et al. Current Rheumatology Diagnosis and Treatment. 2nd ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.; 2007. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aid=2725959. Accessed Aug. 4, 2008.
- Denton CP. Classification of scleroderma disorders. http://www.uptodate.com/index.html. Accessed Aug. 4, 2008.
- Varga J. Risk factors for and possible causes of systemic sclerosis (scleroderma). http://www.uptodate.com/index.html. Accessed Aug. 6, 2008.
- Varga J. Overview of the clinical manifestations of systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/index.html. Accessed Aug. 6, 2008.
- What is a rheumatologist? American College of Rheumatology. http://www.rheumatology.org/public/rheumatologist.asp?aud=pat. Accessed Aug. 6, 2008.
