Connective tissue disease

Connective tissue disease
Different types of connective tissue
Specialty	Rheumatology

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A connective tissue disease is a disease which involves damage to, or destruction of, any type of connective tissue in the body. Depending on the specific disease, the affected tissue(s) may be a single specific type, a group of several related tissues, or a wide variety of unrelated types of connective tissue. Some of the most common connective tissue diseases involve injury to collagen and elastin as a result of inflammation. Many connective tissue diseases are strongly connected to autoimmune disease processes.

Diseases in which inflammation or weakness of collagen tends to occur are also referred to as collagen diseases. Collagen vascular diseases can be (but are not necessarily) associated with collagen and blood vessel abnormalities that are autoimmune in nature.

Some connective tissue diseases have strong or weak genetic inheritance risks. Others may be due to environmental factors, or a combination of genetic and environmental influences.