Sarcoidosis

Ricky had a disease called sarcoidosis. When he was diagnosed at Mayo Clinic they told him he would probably live ten years, but the cousin who sent me this information believes it has been thirteen. I'm glad he's not suffering anymore. He was an organ donor and was able to give his eyes! :-) Ricky was 57.

This came from the stopsarcoidosis.org website-

What is Sarcoidosis? Sarcoidosis is a multi-system disease that causes inflammation of the body’s tissues. Inflammation is a basic, protective response of the body to injury or infection and usually causes warmth, swelling and pain. Inflammation from sarcoidosis is different. In sarcoidosis, the immune system does not function properly and lymphocytes, a type of blood cell, become overactive. These overactive lymphocytes release chemicals which cause granulomas (masses of inflamed tissue or lumps) to form in various organs of the body.

The inflammation of sarcoidosis can occur in almost any organ in the body.The disease name comes from the Greek words 'sark' (meaning flesh) and 'oid' (meaning like) and refer to the disease’s flesh-like tumors that were first observed on the skin of patients with the disease. It is pronounced SAR-COY-DOE-SIS.

What Causes Sarcoidosis? The cause of sarcoidosis is not yet known, there may be several. For example, an abnormal response from the immune system to one or more agents (bacteria, fungus, virus or chemical) may be involved. Genetic predisposition also appears to be important.