When patients hear the word "rheumatology," they often think of arthritis. But it’s much more, Dr. Hufza Hanif, a rheumatologist at Knox Community Hospital, told the Mount Vernon News.
“There are more than 100 conditions that we treat at our office,” the physician said. “In layman’s terms, they are auto-immune conditions, when your body’s immune mechanisms attack your own body.”
The most common of those conditions are lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, Hanif said. Those that are less common include scleroderma, polymyositis, Sjogren’s syndrome, vasculitis and relapsing poly chondritis.
Possible symptoms of an auto-immune disorder include unexplained rash, unexplained fever or unexplained weight loss. Pain or swelling in joints could also be a symptom.
The causes for many of these disorders are unknown and could be genetic and/or environmental, Hanif said.
However, factors such as smoking, bad oral hygiene and obesity can contribute to some disorders including rheumatoid arthritis, she said.
“All of the auto-immune conditions are somewhat different, but mostly they can attack your kidneys, lungs, muscles and joints,” said Hanif.
The good news is that there are now many more treatments available for the disorders.
“Rheumatology has evolved significantly over the last 30 years,” said Hanif. “Thirty years ago, you had only one treatment available for rheumatoid arthritis. Now, I would say we have at least 15 excellent medications which are very effective.”
The same is true for lupus.
“The Food and Drug Administration approved medication which are called biologics,” she said. “They are antibodies to attack the different pathways during that disease process. These are very focused, very targeted medications. Now we have many biologic medications available for many auto-immune conditions.”
With all of the recent and past research, these new drugs are safer than older medications but at the same time effective, said Hanif.
In many cases, they can allow patients to resume normal, active lives.
“Patients will keep on thanking us for how good they feel now after the treatments,” the doctor said.
