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Rheumatic Disorders (rheumatic + disorders)

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Medical Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

WHO-ILAR-COPCORD in the Asia-Pacific: the past, present and future

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RHEUMATIC DISEASES, Issue 1 2008
Syed Atiqul HAQ
Abstract The aim of the Community Oriented Program for Control of Rheumatic Disorders (COPCORD) is reduction of community burden of rheumatic disorders, particularly in developing communities. Stage I entails estimation of prevalence and incidence of musculoskeletal pain and rheumatic disorders. Stage II is dedicated to education of health workers, patients and the community. Stage III deals with identification of risk factors for common rheumatic disorders and development of strategies for their primary and secondary prevention. So far Stage I data have been reported from 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific countries. The prevalence of musculoskeletal pain has varied from 11.6% to 45.4%. The commonest sites of pain were low back, knee, neck and shoulder. Commonest rheumatic disorders were osteoarthritis of knees, non-specific low back pain and soft tissue rheumatism. A few scattered educational activities have been reported from Indonesia and India. Systematic case-controlled or cohort studies aimed at finding out the risk factors for common rheumatic disorders were scanty. However, several associations were reported from cross-sectional prevalence surveys. It is imperative that the COPCORD investigators in the Asia-Pacific region focus on finding out the modifiable risk factors for rheumatic disorders with properly designed studies, develop preventive strategies on the basis of identified risk factors and carry out interventional studies to test the efficacy of the strategies with validated outcome instruments. [source]

Rheumatic disease in the Australian Aborigine of Cape York Peninsula: a 1965 study

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RHEUMATIC DISEASES, Issue 3 2004
William Alexander DOUGLAS
Abstract Aim:, To study the prevalence of rheumatic disorders in two Aboriginal populations on the western coast of Cape York Peninsula. Methods:, Physical and radiological examination of 217 adult Aborigines at Aurukun Aboriginal Mission and 71 Aboriginal adults at Weipa Mission. The study was performed in October 1965. Results:, Mild to moderate degenerative arthritis was not uncommon in the populations examined. However, generalised or nodal osteoarthritis was not seen. One young woman had definite sero-positive rheumatoid arthritis. This woman's appearance suggested some Torres Strait Islander influence. No case of gouty arthritis or classical ankylosing spondylitis was encountered. An incidental finding of retrospective interest was that the calculated body mass index showed that the majority of adults were underweight by Caucasian standards. Conclusions:, These findings are of historic interest given the health impacts of social, cultural and environmental circumstances of Aborigines currently reported. [source]

Morbidity and mortality in rheumatoid arthritis patients with prolonged therapy-induced lymphopenia: Twelve-year outcomes

ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 2 2008
Alice R. Lorenzi
Objective To assess immunologically relevant outcomes in a cohort of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with prolonged therapy-induced lymphopenia. Methods Morbidity (infection or malignancy) and mortality were assessed in 53 RA patients who were treated with the lymphocytotoxic monoclonal antibody alemtuzumab between 1991 and 1994. Data were obtained by interview, medical record review, and Office for National Statistics mortality monitoring. Lymphocyte subsets were enumerated by flow cytometry. A retrospective, matched-cohort study of mortality was performed with 102 control subjects selected from the European League Against Rheumatism database of patients with rheumatic disorders. Results Lymphopenia persisted in the patients: median CD3+CD4+, CD3+CD8+, CD19+, and CD56+ lymphocyte counts measured at a median followup of 11.8 years from the first administration of alemtuzumab were 0.50 × 109/liter, 0.26 × 109/liter, 0.11 × 109/liter, and 0.09 × 109/liter, respectively. Twenty-seven of 51 cases and 46 of 101 controls with available data had died, yielding a mortality rate ratio of 1.20 (95% confidence interval 0.72,1.98). Causes of death were similar to those that would be expected in a hospital-based RA cohort. No opportunistic infections were noted, and only 3 infections were documented following 36 elective orthopedic procedures. Conclusion Despite continued lymphopenia 11.8 years after therapy, our patient cohort did not exhibit excess mortality or unusual infection-related morbidity, and surgery was well tolerated. These data should be reassuring for clinicians and patients who are considering lymphocytotoxic or other immunomodulatory therapy for RA. [source]