The Causes And Diagnosis Of Kawasaki Disease

Environmental Implications

The environment also appears to play a role in Kawasaki disease. Some scientists have hypothesized Kawasaki disease may be caused by a viral agent, which would explain the community clusters that tend to come with the disease. Other environmental causes, such as exposure to toxins, may worsen or even cause Kawasaki disease. In a newer study, a team of doctors and scientists worked together to find the cause, and they realized outbreaks of Kawasaki disease seem to coincide with wind patterns, and so they decided to look into the air for a cause. The study was not able to bring about a causal relationship, but it did provide some conclusions. They found Kawasaki disease is related to toxins in the wind from China, and the Candida fungus, a common disease-causing agent, may be related to the disease as well.

Learn more now about the causes of Kawasaki disease.

Immune Response

Kawasaki disease causes immune system cells to flood to the areas the disease is affecting, especially arterial walls. This causes the arteries to become inflamed and can cause long-term damage, resulting in an aneurysm. Basically, the immune response to Kawasaki disease is too strong. As discussed earlier, the strong response gene is associated with individuals of Asian descent. Those who have this gene will have a stronger response to Kawasaki disease, which increases the overall severity of the disease. Of course, more studies are still being done on these immune, environmental, ethnic, and genetic causes of Kawasaki disease.

Keep reading to learn about how Kawasaki disease is diagnosed now.