Vasculitis is an “inflammation within the blood vessels”. Vasculitis is sometimes called “Angiitis” and “Arteritis”.
There are many different types of vasculitis. The main thing they all have in common isthe inflammation within the blood vessels. The difference between the types of vasculitis is whatblood vessels and organ systems they affect. Some examples are:
- Behcet’s Disease (Eye inflammation with mouth and genital ulcers.)
- Giant Cell Arteritis (Or “temporal arteritis”.Inflammation of a large blood vessel around the scalp. It is most common in the elderly population. Some symptoms are fever, scalp or jaw pain, and headache.)
- Microscopic Polyangiitis (Inflammation of small and medium sized blood vessels throughout the body.)
- Cryoglobulinemia (Red spots (called “purpura”) erupt all over the legs. It can disappear and reappear on its own.)
- Polyarteritis Nodosa (Affects all medium sized blood vessels, anywhere in the body. It is not specific to one organ system.)
- Rheumatoid Vasculitis (A vasculitis that may present in people who have severe Rheumatoid Arthritis.)
Why does vasculitis occur?
As mentioned earlier, every type of vasculitis is characterized by an inflammation within the blood vessels. This inflammation is caused by an autoimmune response.
An autoimmune response is when your body begins to attack itself from the inside. It does this by using the cells of your immune system. This means that an autoimmune response is the overreaction of your immune system to your own cells.
In the case of vasculitis, the immune system attacks the cells that are the building blocks of blood vessels.
There are many theories as to why this occurs. However, no one knows for sure why the immune system goes wild.
A normal immune system only attacks foreign invaders such as bacteria, viruses and fungi. It should not recognize its own cells as dangerous.