RUNNING HEADER: MEDICAL REPORT ON MORPHEA 1

Medical Terminology 101-30F

Maegan Nelson

March 9, 2016

Melinda Himelick

Ivy Tech Community College Marion

MEDICAL REPORT ON MORPHEA 5

This paper is about the medical disease Morphea. The reason I chose this topic for my

research paper is because I have the disease. I wanted to bring a new since of light to the disease

as it is not vary common. A lot of times people think Im being abused instead of it being a

medical condition. Morphea, is an autoimmune disorder that appears like bruises on the skin its

also known as localized scleroderma. Morphea, is most commonly found on the back, chest, and

arms. Morphea also comes in two forms: Linear and Patches. Linear is described as a straight

patch on the skin in one generalize area and nowhere else on the body while, Patches is most

commonly on both sides of the body mirroring each other. But, these bruises may later indent.

Morphea can cause some stiffening of joints. Morphea, is not a painful disease sometimes the

patches will go away on their own while other times they might not.

The symptoms of Morphea include; oval patches that appear on the skin lighter at first

than grow darker, Loss of hair and sweat glands in areas were oval patches are/were and

hardening of skin. You need to see a doctor about when start seeing these just to make sure.

Morphea is most commonly mistaken for leukemia and hyperpigmentation (the darkening of skin

in certain areas). Some complications of Morphea are, loss of hair permanently in certain areas

were patches are, if on the face of neck you may see eye damage, and most commonly

movement problem from joints stiffening.

Morphea is mostly common found by doing a skin biopsy. Doctors will be loking for a

certain type of collagen that may have thickened in the skin. They refer to a skin biopsy as deep

as the second or third layer of skin. The other way Morphea can be found is through and ANA

blood test. If the ANA test comes back positive and they cant find what is exactly wrong to

make the test come back positive they will start to look into other diseases. Morphea is usually

found and miss diagnosed this way. Morphea, is usually very benign. No one has really died
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from Morphea as it is benign. Morphea is very much asymptomatic.

Morphea is predominately found on white, women. It is also normally found in children.

It is hardly ever found in other races. Morphea is usually found before child reach the age of 18.

It is a little more uncommon to be found in adults. If found later in life it is usually undiagnosed

from earlier. Two thirds of all cases of Morphea are usually a case of linear Morphea. People

usually live with Morphea for 2 to 4 years before asking a doctor about the patches and telling a

doctor. Morphea can cause some self-esteem issues as Morphea appears like bruises. This can

than cause some other neurological disorders due to the lack of self-esteem.

Some treatments for Morphea are; Light Therapy, Topical Lotions, High dose amounts of

Steroids, and Immune suppression drugs (Methotrexate, Cell Cept.). Light Therapy is where they

do high concentrations of ultraviolet light on the area of skin where the patches have appeared. It

will help and hopefully change the appearance of the skin. Immune suppression drugs are usually

given to worse cases of Morphea that have no yet went into a remission phase. There is a new

topical lotion that is out. Right now it is in testing to see if the drug is actually effective. I was

actually asked to participate in the drug trial.

Some other things Morphea has been known to coincide with is some vascular problems

like Raynauds phenomenon. Raynauds is a condition when the capillary refills do not refill

right in the fingers and toes. Reflux, which is a condition where Acid comes back up into the

esophagus. Vitamin D deficiency, or not getting enough Vitamin D. These can cause other

complications. This problems are commonly found in patients with Morphea.

Morphea, is actually a subset of scleroderma. Scleroderma is a rare medical condition

where the organs harden. But, because Morphea is so uncommon only affect roughly 1-100,000
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Americans a year. They do not know for sure if Morphea can than progress into scleroderma that

has no cases been reported yet. Morphea affecting your joints can cause the joints to lock and

dislocate. I can say from personal experience that having a dislocated shoulder and going

through psychical therapy it is not fun. Many doctors have suggested people with Raynauds and

Morphea that it is better for those individuals to stay active. With Raynauds though they suggest

that you be careful of your activities during the winter because you may not feel the onset of

frostbite.

Morphea even though it is incredibly uncommon in the since that it is not reported often.

It is incredibly fascinating to think about all the trial medication they are coming out with to help

treat this disease. It will be interesting to see if within the next couple of years they will be able

to develop a cure for the disease. I can honestly say living with Morphea is quite hard as you

there is a lot of questions you get regarding the patches of skin that are discolored. I know that

growing up I was incredibly self-conscious about showing my arms off. I noticed that with the

older I become it doesnt matter because it is a part of me. Because, Morphea was caught so late

they are hoping it will stay in a remission phase like it does for most individuals but until further

testing and observation is done no one will know if Morphea ever actually stops attacking those

areas of skin.
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References:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1065782-overview
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/scleroderma/home/ovc-20206014
http://www.aocd.org/?page=Hyperpigmentation
http://www.aocd.org/?page=Morphea&hhSearchTerms=%22morphea%22
http://www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/guide/what-is-acid-reflux-disease#1
Dr. Hughes Ball memorial