Collagenoses: Therapy

Treatment of collagenoses is carried out with the help of various drugs. But these suppress the immune system and therefore often have side effects. Below is information on therapy, prognosis, and the risk factors.

What can be done about collagenosis?

Drug suppression of the immune system takes the main role in the treatment of collagenosis. In addition to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as diclofenac or ibuprofen, the following medications are used:

Treatment of side effects

All substances lead to suppression of the immune response, but can also make the body more susceptible to infection as a side effect. In addition, symptoms such as dry eyes or mouth can be relieved with artificial tears and copious fluid intake.

Adequate cold protection helps against Raynaud’s syndrome, and consistent sun protection in the form of sunscreen with a high sun protection factor must be used against photosensitivity. The movement restrictions in scleroderma and arthritic symptoms can be alleviated with specific exercises.

Collagenosis: prognosis

While the prognosis of Sjögren’s syndrome and mixed collagenosis is good, the prognosis for fibro/dermatomyositis and scleroderma is serious: depending on the extent and progression of renal, pulmonary, and cardiac involvement, the disease can lead to death.

Lupus disease typically progresses in relapses; overall, 90 percent of affected individuals are still alive after 10 years.

Support groups exist for all collagenoses, with a variety of information also available on the Internet.

What are risk factors for collagenosis?

Many more women develop collagenoses, so that one risk factor that cannot be influenced is the female sex. Also, collagenoses are found to cluster in people who have a certain constellation of antigens on their immune cells – if someone is HLA-DR2- or HLA-DR3-positive, the risk of collagenosis is increased threefold. So genetic disposition may also play a role.

Other risk factors discussed include use of birth control pills and other medications or infection with certain pathogens; ultimately, the etiology is largely unclear.