Sarcoidosis Research Institute - A disease wrapped in mystery A Disease Wrapped in Mystery Research in Sarcoidosis at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Introduction Sarcoidosis was first identified over 100 years ago by two dermatologists working independently Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson in England and Dr. Caesar Boeck in Norway. Sarcoidosis was originally called Hutchinsons disease or Boecks disease. Dr. Boeck went on to fashion todays name for the disease from the Greek words sark and oid, meaning flesh-like. The term describes the skin eruptions that are frequently caused by the illness.
Sarcoidosis ranks among the top misdiagnosed illnesses and is one of the least understood.
It is an inflammatuous disease that can appear in almost any body organ, but most often it starts in the lungs or lymph nodes. The disease can appear suddenly and disappear just as fast. It can also develop gradually and go on to produce symptoms that come and go, sometimes for a lifetime. No one yet knows what causes sarcoidosis. In the majority of cases, these granulomas clear up, either with or without treatment.