Dr. J. Dhanoa

Dr. Jasbir Dhanoa

Rheumatism is a non-specific term used to describe any painful disorder affecting the loco-motor system including joints, muscles, connective tissues, soft tissues around the joints and bones. The term rheumatism is also used to describe rheumatic fever affecting heart valves. However, the medical profession uses specific terms to describe rheumatological disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, gout and systemic lupus erythematosus and so on in the medical literature.

Rheumatology is now emerging as an important clinical specialty recognized all over the world. This speciality is rapidly improving and well established along with properly organized post graduate training programs. The term describing clinicians dealing with rheumatism as "rheumatologists" is now a well established term commonly used by the medical community, even though it is not adequately described in dictionaries established for languages. Rheumatologists all over the world are now capable of treating most of the chronic rheumatological disorders with a much better outcome for the patients. This is due to the discovery of new disease modifying agents called biologics which is now a well established form of treatment for the patients suffering with chronic and disabling joint disorders.

Diseases

Diseases diagnosed or managed by the rheumatologist include:

Rheumatoid arthritis
Lupus
Sjögren's syndrome
scleroderma (systemic sclerosis)
dermatomyositis
polychondritis
polymyositis
polymyalgia rheumatica
osteoarthritis
septic arthritis
sarcoidosis
gout, pseudogout
spondyloarthropathies
ankylosing spondylitis
reactive arthritis (aka **reactive arthropathy)
psoriatic arthropathy
enteropathic spondylitis
vasculitis
polyarteritis nodosa
Henoch-Schönlein purpura
serum sickness
Wegener's granulomatosis
giant cell arteritis
temporal arteritis
Takayasu's arteritis
Behçet's syndrome
Kawasaki's disease (mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome)
Buerger's disease (thromboangiitis obliterans)