What Causes Sarcoidosis?
The cause of sarcoidosis is not known. And, there
may be more than one thing that causes it.
Scientists think that sarcoidosis
develops when your immune system responds to something in the environment
(e.g., bacteria, viruses, dust, chemicals) or perhaps to your own body tissue
(autoimmunity).
Normally, your
immune system defends your body against things that it sees as
foreign and harmful. It does this by sending special cells to the organs that
are being affected by these things. These cells release chemicals that produce
inflammation around the foreign substance or substances to isolate and destroy
them.
In sarcoidosis, this inflammation
remains and leads to the development of granulomas or lumps.
Scientists have not yet identified the
specific substance or substances that trigger the immune system response in the
first place. They also think that sarcoidosis develops only if you have
inherited a certain combination of genes.
You can't catch sarcoidosis from
someone who has it.
More research is needed to discover
what causes sarcoidosis.
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