ttling

tle-Known Disease

Joan Provizer, a woman in the professional world,
lives with scleroderma.

PHIL JACOBS EDITOR

ple and is potentially fatal
when vital organs are
involved.
According to Ms.
Provizer, the condition
occurs when skin collagen,
or protein, does not break
down. The skin becomes
less flexible and pliable.
Ms. Provizer talks about
herself and the fact that
her facial skin seems to be
stiffer. She said it can be
seen by watching her
speak, though to the
untrained eye it doesn't
seem obvious.

"Think about it
I never had heard
of this, and now
I have it."

Joan Provizer

Joan
Provizer
is battling
scleroderma.

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"I look pretty good for
someone with it," she said.
"There's a lot of pain asso-
ciated with it, both inter-
nally and externally."
Most scleroderma vic-
tims are between the ages
of 25 and 45, and 80 per-
cent are women. The dis-
ease occurs as a tightening
in the muscles and ten-
dons, but for some it goes
beyond that to the heart

oan Provizer is forever
busy and on the go. As a
time-management expert,
she's delivering speeches,
making contacts and keep-
ing her life moving.
It would be difficult to
imagine that Ms. Provizer,
a business-like woman,
would be battling any-
thing other than her Day
Timer and rush-hour traf-
fic. But, like 700,000 other
Americans, Ms. Provizer
suffers from a little-known

disease that isn't evident
in its preliminary stages.
Its name, scleroderma, is
known as the disease that
turns people to stone.
Its symptoms include
fatigue, joint or bone
aches, stiffness of the
hands and extremely cold
hands. The symptoms are
vague and generalized,
making the disease often
difficult to diagnose. It's
not hereditary nor is it
contagious. Yet it can crip-

and lungs, kidneys and
esophagus. Ms. Provizer
was diagnosed over seven
years ago when she com-
plained of stiffness in her
hands.
"There's a certain emo-
tion that every person who
has scleroderma goes
through," she said.
"There's anger, denial and
guilt. Think about it — I
never had heard of this,
and now I have it. You feel
very frightened by it, and
you have to adjust your
lifestyle to it."
Ms. Provizer added that
the scary part for her is
that not too many people
know about the disease.
She said it doesn't get the
publicity that muscular
dystrophy or multiple scle-
rosis have, yet its patients
number almost triple the
number of MS patients.
To help publicize the
disease, the United
Scleroderma Foundation
of Southeastern Michigan
is holding Walk N Roll '93
on Saturday, June 12. It
will be held from 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. in downtown
Royal Oak at Oakland
Community College, be-
tween Seventh Street and
Lincoln, off Washington. ID

Technion Hosts Job
Forum For Engineers

RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER

hen members of
the American
Technion Society
met twlo months
ago to plan an event intro-
ducing U.S. scientists and
engineers to Russian emi-
gres who specialize in the

same fields, they expected
25 people.
But more than four
times that number showed
up at the Jewish Corn-
munity Center in Oak
Park when the event took
place in mid-May. The