Sarcoidosis Clinic

Sarcoidosis is one of the most common lung conditions seen in many chest clinics, other than asthma, bronchitis, COPD, and lung cancer.  It commonly presents with a dry cough, shortness of breath, and generalized feeling of being “unwell”.  It is often misdiagnosed as asthma or bronchitis, treated with asthma-type inhalers without much improvement, and, until a chest x-ray is obtained, goes undiagnosed.    It is more common, and may be worse, in persons of African-American heritage, and has some tendency to run in families.  It can be so mild as to not need treatment, or can easily be treated with oral medications.  A small percentage of patients go on to severe disease, and a few of these can be disabled, or even die from their sarcoidosis.  For further information, consult the NIH – NHLBI website (nhlbi.nih.gov).

Our clinic offers evaluation and treatment of persons with sarcoidosis, or suspected of having this disease.  We have a special interest, of course, in sarcoidosis of the lungs, the commonest organ involved.  We have knowledge about its occurrence in other organs, too, and can help with needed referrals to specialists in sarcoid involvement of the nervous system, eyes, skin, heart, and other parts of the body.  We have been part of several NIH-funded multi-center and pharmaceutical-funded studies in sarcoidosis.

Other websites to mention: American Thoracic Society, Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (grants in partnership with Am Thor Soc), WASOG, local and national support  groups.