Behçet's disease

For a lay person:

Behçet's disease is a rare long-term condition that causes inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body. Its hallmark is repeated painful mouth and genital ulcers, often with eye inflammation, skin problems and joint pain.

For a trained medical person:

A variable-vessel vasculitis presenting with recurrent oral aphthae, genital ulcers, uveitis, skin lesions and pathergy, with possible vascular, neurological and gastrointestinal involvement. Diagnosis is clinical. Treatment ranges from colchicine and topical steroids to azathioprine, apremilast and anti-TNF agents for severe disease.

In Chinese medicine:

Flaws and Sionneau's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Spleen-stomach brewing heat; Damp-Heat in the Liver; Lower Jiao Damp-Heat; Spleen deficiency mixed with dampness; Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency; Spleen and Kidney Yang Deficiency; Qi and blood deficiency mixed with stasis. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: Get urgent care for eye pain, blurred vision or sudden neurological symptoms.