Rheumatology
From ArticleWorld
Rheumatology is the medical study of diseases of joints and connective tissue as well as the treatment of those diseases. Rheumatologists are generally internal medicine specialists that have studied further to specialize in this field.
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Scope of diseases
Rheumatology deals with diseases involving joints, connective tissue (tendons and ligaments) and sometimes muscles and blood vessels. The diseases can be related to the immune system, such as autoimmune diseases or diseases that are infectious in origin or possibly just degenerative in origin.
Autoimmune rheumatology
Autoimmune conditions that are often treated by rheumatologists are conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosis, Sjögren’s syndrome, scleroderma, dermatomyositis and many conditions involving vasculitis. These are all diseases where the body has made an immune response against a particular protein or proteins in connective tissue and joints so that inflammation of a joint, muscle, tendon or blood vessel occurs. These are difficult to treat and involve blocking the immune system with steroids, anti-inflammatory medications or other immune suppressants.
Vascular rheumatology
There are numerous types of rheumatologically-oriented blood vessel diseases. Perhaps the most common is called temporal arteritis, a condition where the temporal artery of the face (near the temple) becomes inflamed and can actually become narrow and block blood flow to the eyes. Symptoms include severe headache on one or more sides of the head and eventual blindness. As conditions like this are often autoimmune, treatment is directed toward blocking the abnormal immune response to the blood vessels affected.
Other rheumatological conditions
Some conditions that fall under the category of rheumatology include infections or the joints (septic arthritis) and degenerative diseases, also known as osteoarthritis. Septic conditions must be treated like abscesses, with drainage of the infected fluid and systemic antibiotic therapy. Degenerative diseases often progress with or without treatment so that the focus is on managing pain and blocking inflammation with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents.