Sclerosis () is the stiffening of a
tissue or anatomical feature, usually caused by a replacement of the normal
organ-specific tissue with
connective tissue
Connective tissue is one of the four primary types of animal tissue, a group of cells that are similar in structure, along with epithelial tissue, muscle tissue, and nervous tissue. It develops mostly from the mesenchyme, derived from the mesod ...
. The structure may be said to have undergone sclerotic changes or display sclerotic
lesions, which refers to the process of sclerosis.
Common medical conditions whose pathology involves sclerosis include:
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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...
—also known as
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis Gehrig ( ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941), also known as Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig, was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was ...
's disease or motor neurone disease—a progressive, incurable, usually fatal disease of
motor neurons.
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Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis, characterized by development of abnormalities called lesions in walls of arteries. This is a chronic inflammatory disease involving many different cell types and is driven by eleva ...
, a deposit of fatty materials, such as cholesterol, in the arteries which causes hardening.
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Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis is a disease that attacks the
kidney
In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organ (anatomy), organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and rig ...
's filtering system (
glomeruli) causing serious scarring and thus a cause of
nephrotic syndrome in children and adolescents, as well as an important cause of kidney failure in adults.
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Hippocampal sclerosis, a brain damage often seen in individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy.
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Lichen sclerosus, an inflammatory skin disease that most often affects the vulva and the penis.
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Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...
, or focal sclerosis,
is a central nervous system disease which affects coordination.
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Osteosclerosis, a condition where the bone density is significantly increased, resulting in decreased lucency on radiographs.
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Otosclerosis, a disease of the ears.
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Primary lateral sclerosis, progressive muscle weakness in the voluntary muscles.
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Primary sclerosing cholangitis, a hardening of the bile duct by scarring and repeated inflammation.
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Systemic sclerosis (progressive systemic
scleroderma
Scleroderma is a group of autoimmune diseases that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. The disease can be either localized to the skin or involve other organs, as well. Symptoms may include areas ...
), a rare, chronic disease which affects the skin, and in some cases also blood vessels and internal organs.
*
Tuberous sclerosis, a rare genetic disease which affects multiple systems.
References
External links
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Medical terminology