1Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan 2Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan 3Institute of Integrative Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan 4Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdo, China 5Functional Neurosurgery Division, Neu...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the burden of rheumatic diseases in terms of disability and health-care utilization in the Greek general adult population. METHODS The study was conducted on the total adult population of seven communities (8547 subjects), as well as on 2100 out of 5686 randomly selected subjects in an additional two communities. Rheumatologists visited the participants at their homes to...

INTRODUCTION Epidemiological studies of rheumatic diseases have been conducted during the past 20 years in China. The aim of this study was to clarify prevalence rates of common rheumatic diseases in China. METHODS Relevant reports of population-based surveys conducted from 1980 to 2006 were retrieved. Studies using the World Health Organization-International League of Associations for Rheuma...

The aetiology of rheumatoid diseases is unclear but may be multifactorial, the result of complex interactions between environmental, neuroendocrinological, and genetic factors. Whilst several viruses (for example cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, rubella virus and parvovirus B19 are associated with self limiting arthritic episodes, retroviruses have been suggested as aetiological agents of r...

The aetiology of rheumatoid diseases is unclear but may be multifactorial, the result of complex interactions between environmental, neuroendocrinological, and genetic factors. Whilst several viruses (for example cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, rubella virus and parvovirus B19 are associated with self limiting arthritic episodes, retroviruses have been suggested as aetiological agents of r...

This review summarizes the recent advances of osteoimmunology, a new research field that investigates the interaction of the immune system with the skeleton. Osteoimmunology has contributed significantly to the understanding of joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis and other forms of arthropathies. In particular, the molecular regulation of osteoclast formation and its control by proinflamm...

Physical Therapy (PT) and self-help groups (SHG) are important components of health care in rheumatic diseases. The utilisation of PT and SHG by patients with rheumatic diseases may be influenced by several factors. The aim of this study is to summarize the evidence on PT and SHG utilisation of patients with rheumatic diseases in Germany. We systematically searched the MEDLINE-database for stud...

It was within the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases that the resea[j,e unit, whose activities are to be reviewed here, began its existence in 1949c0tf hospital had been famous, and had been engaged in research, for many years t>e that. Before the last war, it was the Mecca of students of rheumatic disesase over the world. It is the oldest spa hospital in the world, and was the firs...

In 1946 The National Danish Association against Rheumatic Diseases and The Danish Society for Rheumatology in co-operation with Dansk Gallup Institut conducted a general investigation into the number and nature of rheumatic diseases in the population of Denmark. Denmark proper, with an area of 42,931 sq. kilometres and a population of about 4 millions, lies in Northern Europe between Lat. 57.70...