Rheumatology – Diagnosis & Treatment for Joint Diseases

Rheumatology is a branch of medicine and a specialty within internal medicine and pediatrics that focuses on the study, diagnosis, and treatment of rheumatic diseases, including degenerative joint diseases, inflammatory joint diseases (arthritis), and systemic connective tissue disorders.

Common rheumatic diseases include: rheumatoid arthritis (an autoimmune disorder that causes inflammation in the joints, leading to pain and potential joint damage), osteoarthritis (a degenerative joint disease resulting from cartilage breakdown, causing pain and stiffness), gout (a form of arthritis characterized by sudden, severe attacks of pain, redness, and tenderness in the joints, most commonly in the big toe), systemic lupus erythematosus (an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks its own tissues, affecting the joints, skin, kidneys, and other organs), and ankylosing spondylitis (an inflammatory disease affecting the spine, causing severe, chronic pain and discomfort).