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Rheumatology
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Rheumatology is a subspecialty of Internal Medicine that focuses on autoimmune disorders and disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Autoimmune conditions are the primary focus of the field of Rheumatology.
Autoimmune Disease
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Autoimmune diseases occur when the body’s defense mechanism, the immune system, mistakenly attacks the body. The immune system’s usual role is to attack outside invaders such as bacteria and viruses. In autoimmune disease, the immune system makes an error in judgement and considers the body’s organs as foreign leading to activation of the immune system causing conditions such as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Lupus among many others.
Pharmacologic Treatments
Autoimmune diseases are treated with a focus on regulating the immune system with medications to control its activity by either changing the immune response or suppressing the excess response. Medications such as hydroxychloroquine, which is commonly used in treatment of RA and Lupus, work by making changes to the immune system to control its response and thus are known as immunomodulators. Most medications used in treatment of autoimmune diseases work to suppress the over activity of the immune system and are thus known as immunosuppressants. These include medications such as methotrexate and biologics.
Integrated Rheumatology
While pharmacological therapy is vital in treatment of autoimmune conditions, other aspects such as lifestyle changes and supplement use are also important parts of keeping these chronic conditions under control.
An integrated approach to rheumatology focuses on combining conventional pharmacologic treatments while also giving importance to focusing on diet, exercise and supplements targeted to the needs of the individual patient and their condition.
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Through irheumatology, we hope to share knowledge on an integrated approach to management of rheumatologic autoimmune conditions.
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