By Emilie Hackett, Special to the Record – Sclérodermie Estrie is organizing its third annual Walk for Scleroderma on June 1 at André-Viger Park in Sherbrooke. Scleroderma is an autoimmune, rheumatic, and chronic disease that affects around 16,000 Canadians every year.Characterized by an overproduction of collagen, scleroderma causes the immune system to attack its own cells. It can be fatal, and people with scleroderma are also at a heightened risk for contracting cancers. There is no cure yet. “Scleroderma is a close cousin of lupus,” explained Violet Konrad, leader of Sclérodermie Estrie. “The excessive collagen production can affect the entire body, hardening the skin, fingers, the core area, the digestive tract, the heart, the lungs, the kidneys, and sometimes the face. There are so many things that can happen to your body when you have scleroderma. It’s quite the diagnosis.” See full story in the Tuesday, May 14 edition of The Record.
