Rheumatology treats rheumatic disorders.
Rheumatology is the name given to the medical specialty dedicated to the treatment of rheumatic disorders . It should be noted that these disorders are usually included under the name rheumatism , a group of diseases and conditions that have swelling of the joints as their main common characteristic.
Rheumatology , in this way, is aimed at the study and treatment of various disorders of the connective tissue and musculoskeletal system . An expert in rheumatology is known as a rheumatologist .
There is a wide spectrum of rheumatic diseases, each with different origins and development. Rheumatology, in this way, classifies different conditions into a series of large groups. Thus they are framed as neurovascular disorders , metabolic diseases , neoplasms , soft tissue rheumatism , connective tissue diseases , inflammatory arthropathies or degenerative arthropathies , depending on the case.
Disorders studied by rheumatology
Within each of the groups just mentioned, various diseases of interest to rheumatology are included. Let's look at some of them below:
- Among the neurovascular disorders we find compression syndromes, erythromelalgia, Charcot joint , reflex sympathetic dystrophy and Raynaud syndrome.
- Metabolic or endocrine diseases related to rheumatism include biochemical abnormalities such as hemophilia and amyloidosis, but also hereditary diseases such as familial Mediterranean fever.
- The group of neoplasms, which are characterized by the presence of a mass of abnormal tissue generated when cells undergo multiplication at a rate that exceeds normality, can be divided into primary and secondary. Two of the main ones are metastasis and paraneoplastic syndrome.
- Some of the types of soft tissue rheumatism are intervertebral disc disorders, miscellaneous pain syndromes (such as psychogenic rheumatism, fibromyalgia and cervicalgia), juxta-articular injuries (tendinitis, bursitis, cysts and enthesopathies), low back pain , elbow golfer or tennis player and oleocranial bursitis.
- Connective tissue diseases are associated with systemic conditions and there are many. In this group we find systemic sclerosis , polymyositis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren's syndrome, dermatomyositis and polymyalgia rheumatica, among several other diseases that rheumatology treats.
- By inflammatory arthropathies we understand juvenile idiopathic, septic and rheumatoid arthritis, Felty syndrome, gout and a group called spondyloarthropathies, which includes reactive arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and those associated with inflammatory disorders of the intestine, spondylitis. ankylosing and SAPHO syndrome .
- Degenerative arthropathies include osteoarthritis, Bouchard's nodules, coxarthrosis, rhizarthrosis of the thumb, Heberden's nodules and dyscarthrosis, among others.
A rheumatology expert can provide different types of pain relievers.
The treatments
Rheumatism can cause tendonitis , bursitis, back pain, arthritis of different kinds and osteoarthritis , among other health problems that require the intervention of rheumatology to relieve pain and alleviate symptoms.
As rheumatic disorders can have multiple causes, rheumatology treatments are varied. In general, the treatment of this type of condition begins with the provision of ibuprofen , paracetamol and other pain relievers and anti-inflammatories.
Although these common characteristics can be mentioned, we must not forget that a doctor, in this case a rheumatologist, is the professional who must suggest the treatment after reviewing the patient and carrying out the corresponding studies that allow him to establish a diagnosis and determine the symptoms. steps to follow.
The Spanish Society of Rheumatology
Taking Spanish medicine as a reference, the Spanish Society of Rheumatology was created only in 1948, and four years later the Ministry of Education recognized the specialty of rheumatology.
This society has the objective of promoting the study of rheumatic disorders, as well as the problems related to them, always within the field of medicine.