RHEUM WITH A VIEW- Perspectives on Rheumatological conditions

Rheum What?

Rheumatology is a branch of medicine devoted to diagnosis and treatment of rheumatic diseases. But no we don’t deal with only old ladies with bad knees. And it’s not “sickle cell rheumatism” either. Our form of rheumatism affects both young and old alike.

The prefix “rheuma,” meaning “flux” or “to flow,” was first used by a Greek physician 2000 years ago, referring to the flow of phlegm, but rheumatology has nothing to do with the flow of phlegm either !

Physicians who specialize in rheumatology are called rheumatologists. Rheumatologists deal mainly with medical conditions affecting joints, soft tissues, autoimmune diseases, autoinflammatory and heritable connective tissue disorders. These are a wide variety of illnesses that may affect many different organs. Most of these diseases do not have a well-defined cause which makes rheumatology an interesting field to study. You have to be adept in all specialties of medicine.

Immune system and the joints?

Rheumatology is progressively more becoming the study of immunology that is how the body’s immune system (the defence mechanism of the body) works.

Many diseases are now known to be disorders of the immune system including narcolepsy (excessive sleeping) and even infertility may have an autoimmune basis.

Autoimmune diseases occur when the body’s disease fighting cells gets confused and attacks itself instead of defending it. Some of these are very serious diseases that can be difficult to diagnose and treat because of the lack of awareness about these conditions. While autoimmune conditions are not well known or understood, it is far more common than better known diseases such as leukaemia, sickle cell disease, breast cancer and HIV all combined. Without early diagnosis and treatment, they can be severely devastating, even deadly.

There are more than 100 types of rheumatologic diseases, including autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus), psoriatic arthritis, spondyloarthro-pathies, polymyalgia rheumatic, Sjogren’s syndrome, antiphospholipid syndrome, scleroderma; and vasculitis; musculoskeletal pain disorders; back and neck pain, tendinitis, bursitis, nerve impingements (sciatica, cervical radiculopathy, carpal tunnel syndrome); osteoarthritis; osteoporosis and osteopenia; gout; fibromyalgia; and Lyme arthritis, as well as problems related to musculoskeletal system such as sports related soft tissue disorders.

What to expect?

In the coming weeks in this column which I have rechristened “Rheum with a View”, I would collaborate with The Rheumatology Initiative, tRi Ghana, a non-profit organisation dedicated to providing education, advocacy and research into the autoimmune rheumatic conditions to increase awareness, provide information, tips and the latest advances in the care of people with autoimmune rheumatic diseases, with special focus on young and adolescent persons with these conditions.

We shall share with you on the column, education on Rheumatologic conditions, stories of people living with these conditions and tips and useful information to get a solid grasp on handling daily living with these conditions to thrive.

Come and let’s get a view on a Rheumy side of the world.