Wikipedia
"Scleroderma is a long term autoimmune disease that results in hardening of the skin. In the more severe form, it also affects internal organs"
Epidemiology (which includes many of the hints that it can be prevented with vitamin D)
This disease is found among all races worldwide, but women are four times more likely to develop scleroderma than men. In the United States, approximately one person in 1,000 is affected. Children rarely suffer the systemic type, but localized scleroderma is common. Most adults are diagnosed after their 30th birthday and before age 50. The disease has high rates among the native American Choctaw tribe and African-American females.[7]
The cause of scleroderma is largely unknown.
Sunshine and Scleroderma
Safe Sun Protection. For people with specific autoimmune disorders, protection from the sun should be a serious perennial consideration.
Conditions such as Lupus, dermatomyositis, scleroderma and vitaligo are autoimmune diseases that are sun-sensitive. Mary Jo DiLonardo. Arthritis Today. July 2009.
Do You Have an Autoimmune Disease? Why You Should Beware of the Sun. The sun’s effects may reach through skin and ‘punish’ the immune system. People with scleroderma, too, can be affected by sun exposure, says Frederick Wigley, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center in Baltimore. While they don’t have the same blistering or flares associated with lupus, the sun can cause further damage to skin already hardened and damaged by the disease. Also, some people with scleroderma have hyperpigmentation of the skin that is made worse by sun exposure. Arthritis Today, July-August 2005.
See also VitaminDWiki
- Search Sclerodema in VitaminDWiki 45 items as of Jan 2016
See also PubMed
- Vitamin D levels and potential impact in systemic sclerosis Nov 2011
- Skin Involvement and Pulmonary Hypertension Are Associated with Vitamin D Insufficiency in Scleroderma Dec 2016
- "The prevalence of 25-hydroxivitamin D3 insufficiency was 50% in the patients and 22.5% in the control group"
- Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki