CREST is a term doctors often use to describe common symptoms of systemic scleroderma. The acronym stands for calcinosis, Raynaud's phenomenon, esophageal dysfunction, sclerodactyly, and telangiectasias. Limited scleroderma, a type of systemic scleroderma, is often referred to as CREST syndrome because people with the condition usually have all of the associated symptoms.
Scleroderma is an activation of immune cells, which produces scar tissue in the skin, internal organs, and small blood vessels. Women are three times more likely than men to develop the condition. Although scleroderma appears to be more common among African American women than other races, a woman's risk of developing scleroderma is 15 times greater during her childbearing years.
The two types of scleroderma are:
Localized scleroderma affects only certain parts of the body, while systemic scleroderma can affect the whole body.
Each type of scleroderma has subtypes. One of the subtypes of systemic scleroderma is limited scleroderma, which doctors refer to as CREST syndrome.
(Click Types of Scleroderma for more information on the different types.)
People with systemic scleroderma often have all or some of the symptoms that doctors refer to as CREST. CREST stands for the following:
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