Henoch-Schonlein purpura, is a disease known also as Anaphylactoid purpura and Vascular purpura. It usually affects male children, but it may affect people of any gender and any age. Most people affected recently had an upper respiratory illness. One of my friends is a female, and in her early 40’s, and was just hospitalized for an entire week with this illness.

For an unknown reason, the immune system has an abnormal response to infection or stressors. The interior of the blood vessel responds with inflammation, it is a type of hypersensitivity *vasculitis. When the blood vessels burst under the skin, purple spots appear on the skin, accompanied by joint pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, and **glomerulonephritis.

The purple spots, which appear on the skin, are usually over the buttocks, lower legs, and elbows and may be accompanied by hives. Examples of the gastrointestinal symptoms are abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and bloody stools. My friend tells me that the purple spots are very painful. She also had blood in her stool and couldn’t eat or drink for two days prior to her hospitalization.

Henoch-Schonlein purpura is usually diagnosed by a physical exam, which reveals purple spots and joint tenderness. Doctors should normally follow that with a urinalysis, which will reveal microscopic blood in the urine, and a skin biopsy, which will show vasculitis.

Most cases just resolve without treatment, but if symptoms continue then the patient is treated with corticosteroids such as prednisone. My friend’s doctor has indicated that she may be on steroid therapy for a year to resolve her condition. She has indicated that the swelling from the steroids, accompanied by the painful lesions, have made her very uncomfortable.

However, she is concerned about the recurrence of the symptoms and possible kidney impairment if she discontinues the steroids. She was also told to get plenty of rest and fluids to help resolve the disease. She went on a grocery-shopping trip to the store a few days after her release from the hospital and by the time she arrived home, she had more purple spots and felt worse. This made her realize how important the rest actually is.

*(Encarta Dictionary: English (North America) vasculitis - inflammation of a blood vessel or lymph vessel.)

**(Encarta Dictionary: English (North America) glomerulonephritis - an inflammatory disease affecting the clusters of capillaries (glomeruli) in the cortex of a kidney.)

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