Behçet disease symptoms

Behçet disease

Behçet’s disease is a chronic inflammatory disease that results in a triad of symptoms – as the Turkish dermatologist Khulusi Bhagat, who named the disease on his name, includes ulcers in the mouth, genitals and eye infections. These symptoms occur as a result of inflammation of the blood vessels in the body. It is noteworthy that the disease has no known cause, but it is believed that environmental factors and genetic predisposition may play a role in its emergence.
Behçet’s disease may affect people of any race, sex or age, but it usually affects men and women in their twenties and thirties. The disease spreads in the Middle East and East Asia such as Turkey, Iran, Japan and China.

The patient suffers from Syndrome And signs of disease associated with the affected member of the disease, so the picture varies from one patient to another, and it is noted that the symptoms may appear and disappear on their own, and reduce with the passage of time, it is worth mentioning that Behçet disease is not contagious disease. Symptoms that a patient may suffer include:

Frequent painful mouth ulcers: Where lesion begins round and higher than the skin around it, then turns into a painful ulcer that heals within three weeks and then reappears.
Painful genital ulcers: And can leave an impact even after healing, and most genitalia are susceptible to these lesions Vulva area (Vulva) and scrotum (Scrotum).
Bronchitis of the eye: (Uveitis) where the patient suffers from pain, redness and blurred vision in one or both eyes.
Skin Symptoms: Such as skin injury with acne-like ulcers, or red nodules that are painful and high on the periphery, especially on the lower legs.
Inflammation of blood vessels: Which in turn causes pain, swelling and redness in the arms and legs of the patient, and presents the patient to the risk of narrowing of blood vessels and blockage if this inflammation in the large arteries.
Pain and swelling of the joints: Symptoms of joint injury usually last from one to three weeks and then disappear on their own. The most vulnerable joints are the knee joint, and the ankle, elbow and wrist joints can also be injured.
Gastrointestinal problems: These include abdominal pain, diarrhea and bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract.
Encephalitis and nervous system: Symptoms include headaches, fever, confusion, and poor balance. Behçet’s disease may cause a stroke.

Diagnosis of Behçet disease

Diagnosis of Behçet’s syndrome depends primarily on the symptoms. Diagnosis of the individual requires oral ulcers, which have been repeated at least three times in the past 12 months, and in addition to oral ulcers, the patient should suffer from two signs:

Genital ulcers.
Skin ulcers.
Eye infection.
A positive result of the pathergy test is that by pricking the skin in the forearm area with a sterile needle, if the tingling causes a red knot more than 2 mm in diameter after 24 to 48 hours of testing, the test result is positive.

Treatment of Behçet disease

There is no definitive cure for this disease, but there are some treatments that will alleviate the symptoms and control the disease as much as possible:

Topical treatments: Which are prescribed to control the signs and symptoms that a patient may suffer.
Systemic therapies: Which the doctor describes for patients in severe cases.

It should be noted that simple cases do not require more than topical treatments given at the time of the symptoms, and dispense with the disappearance of symptoms, other than difficult cases that require continuous treatment even when the disappearance of symptoms.

Topical treatments

Topical treatments that the doctor can prescribe include:

mouthwash: (Mouthwash), which contains corticosteroids (corticosteroid) and other therapeutic substances, as prescribed to reduce the pain of oral ulcers.
Topical corticosteroid: To relieve inflammation and pain of skin ulcers and genital ulcers.
Eye drops: To relieve pain and red eyes in case of mild inflammation; the doctor can prescribe eye drops containing corticosteroids or other anti-inflammatory drugs.

Systemic treatments

Systemic medicines that can be prescribed by the doctor in severe cases include:

Colchicine (Colchicine), reduces arthritis, and can be used if symptoms do not improve despite the use of topical treatments.
Corticosteroids: It is prescribed for the control of inflammation, for example prednisone, and should be prescribed with immunosuppressive drugs, because the symptoms will return if corticosteroids are used alone.
Antihypertensive drugs: Such as azathioprine, cyclosporine, cyclophosphamide, and side effects; increased risk of infection, renal and liver problems, and hypertension.
Drugs that modify the immune system: Such as Interferon alfa-2b, which changes the response of the patient’s immune system to control inflammation, and can be used alone or in combination with other drugs to control the symptoms of the disease.
Drugs that inhibit tumor necrosis factor (Tumor necrosis factor), such as Infliximab and Etanercept. The doctor describes these drugs in patients whose symptoms and symptoms are more severe and resistant to other treatments.