MOST "NEW" diseases are the product of humans intervention. New drug reactions, diseases in transplant recipients, and even new epidemics (eg, human immunodeficiency virus disease) have been brought about or facilitated by changes in human behavior. The condition currently called nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy (NFD) will likely be an example of such a condition, but the proof is not in yet.
In 1997, nephrologists at a medical center in southern California began seeing patients who had extensive cutaneous induration. Most of these patients were recipients of renal transplants, and in many cases the transplants had been rejected. Biopsy results of several of these patients led to the conclusion that they all had the same condition, one that resembled or perhaps was scleromyxedema. From the outset, it was clear that the condition was distinct from morphea or scleroderma.