What causes pemphigus (autoimmune bullae)?

Pemphigus is the Latin term used to describe blisters on the skin. This is an uncommon disease that can affect many people but is more common in the elderly. When you have this disease, you will have blisters on your body, arms or legs. Blisters can appear in the eyes, nose, mouth, or genitals. The cause of pemphigus is not fully understood and there is no cure. However, we have measures to help treat the disease to avoid frequent infections and recurrences. In this article, SignsSymptomsList will present the causes and symptoms of pemphigus.

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1. What is pemphigus?

Pemphigus is an acquired autoimmune disease in which the body produces an antibody called an autoantibody. It is this autoantibody that attacks the cells of the skin and mucous membranes and forms a blister.

Pemphigus pathology is classified into several different subtypes. All forms of the disease have the common manifestation of a rash and blisters. However, they differ in the location of the blisters on the body and the way they appear. Therefore, the way to diagnose and treat also varies depending on the type of disease. Of all the forms, common pemphigus is the most common.

In general, pemphigus is not as common as other dermatological conditions. The incidence is about 30/1,000,000 people, which means 30 out of 1,000,000 people have pemphigus.

The disease can affect many different people and ages. However, women are affected more often than men. Women are almost twice as likely to get the disease as men. Any age can develop autoimmune bullous disease. But surveys show that the average age of the disease ranges from 40 to 60 years old. This means that the disease usually affects the elderly or elderly.

2. Causes of disease  

Pemphigus is an autoimmune disease, meaning it's caused by our own immune system. Normally, when the body is exposed to foreign elements from the environment, the immune system will identify them as foreign objects compared to the body. From there, the body will secrete antibodies to destroy these foreign objects to protect us from harmful effects.

In pemphigus, the body produces antibodies for some unknown reason. It is this antibody that destroys the cells of the skin. As a result, the cells are no longer adherent to each other, but loosely form bubbles.

>> You can see more about the effect of the disease on pregnant women: Pemphigus (autoimmune blisters) in pregnant women .

The reason why our bodies secrete antibodies is not well understood. There are a number of factors that play a role in triggering an outbreak, including:

  • Use certain medications.
  • Ultraviolet ray.
  • Irradiation (radiotherapy).

What causes pemphigus (autoimmune bullae)?

The cause of the body's own antibody production is not well understood

People with other autoimmune diseases such as lupus, psoriasis or rheumatoid arthritis are also at risk for pemphigus. In particular, the elderly or the elderly and women will be more susceptible to the disease.

3. Expression

The common manifestations of autoimmune bullous bodies are:

  • A red rash on the skin before the blistering.
  • The blister is large and filled with fluid, which can be clear, cloudy, or bloody.
  • The water ball is thick and not easy to break.
  • The skin around the blister may be normal, red, or dark in color.
  • The rupture of the blister will form pink and very painful blisters.

4. When to see a doctor?

There are many conditions that can cause blisters on the skin. Therefore, when blisters appear on the skin, especially large ones, you should quickly see a doctor. At that time, your doctor will examine you and diagnose whether you have pemphigus.

What causes pemphigus (autoimmune bullae)?

You should see a doctor when you see blisters appear on your skin

5. How is pemphigus diagnosed?

The dermatologist will examine the blisters on the skin to see if they have pemphigus features. In addition, your doctor may recommend that you perform some more professional tests to help diagnose the disease accurately. That is the skin biopsy test. The doctor will take a skin sample from the blister and test it. Also, your doctor may recommend that you have a blood test to look for certain antibodies that are associated with pemphigus.

6. Pemphigus is classified into what types of disease?    

Pemphigus pathology is classified into several different subtypes. The forms of pemphigus are:

  • Common pemphigus . This is the most common form of the three types of pemphigus, accounting for about 60-70%. Usually, blisters begin to appear in the mouth. After that, we will see water bubbles scattered all over the body, arms, legs or joints. After the blister burst, it will leave skin erosion and slow healing.
  • Pemphigus warts. This is a rarer form of the disease. Usually, blisters will appear in folds such as armpits, groin, buttocks or folds under the breast. After the blister burst, it will leave a skin slide that then swells up with pus-filled, scaly and foul-smelling papillomas.
  • Pemphigus leaves . Usually, the blisters will appear on the face, back or chest - areas with many sebaceous glands. The blisters then burst rapidly and leave red patches of skin. Red patches of skin with superficial scaling and oozing. The disease may progress to generalized erythema with the appearance of the entire skin of the body becoming red.

What causes pemphigus (autoimmune bullae)?

There are 3 types of pemphigus disease

These are the characteristics that help distinguish the bodies quickly. To be sure, you need to see your doctor.

7. Treatment 

Because the cause of the disease is not fully understood, there is no cure for pemphigus. At the onset of the disease, measures are applied with the aim of:

  • Heals skin lesions.
  • Prevent recurrences.
  • Minimizing the side effects of treatment drugs.

When pemphigus blisters appear, the patient will be treated as follows:

  • Bath with diluted potassium permanganate to prevent skin infections.
  • Deflate large blisters to prevent spontaneous rupture.
  • Put purple gauze on the skin scrape to prevent infection.
  • For blisters in the mouth, you can rinse your mouth with an antiseptic solution.
  • Topical or systemic corticosteroids are the mainstay of treatment. Corticosteroids help fight inflammation, heal old blisters and prevent new ones. However, the side effects of corticosteroids are quite a lot if used in high doses and for a long time.

>> See more: What are corticosteroids? Consequences of corticosteroid abuse .

  • It can be combined with other drugs that suppress the immune system to help control the disease quickly.
  • Your doctor may prescribe additional antibiotics in case of bacterial skin infections.

What causes pemphigus (autoimmune bullae)?

There is currently no cure for the disease

8. How is the disease monitoring regime?

Because pemphigus is not curable, we must have a monitoring and control regimen. Patients should be careful not to stop taking the drug or reduce the dose on their own. This will make the disease worse or harder to control.

If you have been diagnosed with pemphigus in the past, during follow-up you should see your doctor when:

  • New water balloon.
  • New skin abrasions.
  • The blisters increase rapidly in number or spread throughout the body.
  • Fever.
  • Cold shiver.
  • Muscle weakness or joint pain.

Before the period of treatment with corticosteroids, almost patients died from blisters causing dehydration, malnutrition or infection. However, when treated with corticosteroids, the prognosis of the disease is better. The general condition of the disease improved with the time of treatment. The longer the treatment period, the higher the chance of complete healing. However, the disease can recur at any time. If you have the blisters come back after the treatment period or the first blisters are not explained, you should also see a doctor for timely treatment.

Doctor Vo Thi Ngoc Hien


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