bullous pemphigoid

My wife has been diagnosed by bullous pemphigoid, four months ago. I was told that this is a terminal condition. She's got red patches all over her body, blisters coming on and off, and she is on  steroids and various creams.
Would like to know how serious is her condition, how to determine if it is  life threatening and how long it will last. She is 63 years old.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Bullous pemphigoid is a chronic, autoimmune, blistering skin disease which is usually due to immunogenetic causes. Since it is a chronic disease, if untreated, the disease can persist for months or years. Patients with aggressive or widespread disease, those requiring high doses of corticosteroids and immunosuppressive agents and those with underlying medical problems have increased morbidity and risk of death. Moreover since it involves elderly people, so risk of side effects in these people is always there. We cannot predict how much time it will take to complete its course because prognosis depends on the severity of the disease, the general health conditions and underlying medical conditions.
I hope it helps. Take care and regards.