Rational treatment of fibromyalgia for a solo practitioner
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a challenging condition, but the management of patients with FM is becoming facilitated by new medications that act in what are thought to be some of most…
RHEUMATOLOGY
Prevention and cure of rheumatoid arthritis: Is it possible?
Advances in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis have made it possible to profoundly influence signs and symptoms as well as the course of joint destruction in inflammatory arthritis. Earlier and more…
Rheumatologic sequelae and challenges in organ transplantation
Despite the increasing success of transplantation, graft recipients experience a high burden of musculoskeletal symptoms that may hinder quality of life. Post-transplant musculoskeletal problems may result from sequelae of the…
Management of osteoporosis in a pre-menopausal woman
There is no agreed definition of osteoporosis in pre-menopausal women. The International Society for Clinical Densitometry recommends using Z -score, and women with Z -scores of −2.0 or lower should…
Inflammatory osteoarthritis of the hand
Inflammatory or erosive are terms used interchangeably to define a clinical subset of osteoarthritis of the hand (HOA), targeting interphalangeal joints and characterised by an abrupt onset, marked pain and…
Managing specific problems in rheumatology
Management decisions in the rheumatic diseases require an understanding of the natural history of the disorder as well as the expectation of rational therapy. However, many of the diseases treated…
Stem cells in the treatment of inflammatory arthritis
Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) resulted in a positive short-term outcome clinically with low treatment-related toxicity. However, early conditioning regimens were of low immunoablative…
Prospects for gene therapy in inflammatory arthritis
Gene therapy holds great promise for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In this article, we focus on innovation in vector, promoter or target genes. Gene therapy is defined as…
Targeting the B Cell in Rheumatoid Arthritis
There has been renewed interest in the B cell as a target for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) over the past decade. Efficacy with rituximab has been demonstrated in…
Therapeutic opportunities in fibroblasts in inflammatory arthritis
The Identification of key players of inflammation and pathologic immune response in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has resulted in the development of novel therapeutic strategies revolutionising the treatment of disease. However,…
