Gout has been with us since antiquity. In the 4th Century BC, Hippocrates observed that gout was rarely seen in women before the menopause. The word gout comes from the Latin “gutta,” a medieval reference to a drop of evil humour in a painful, reddened great toe. Cartoons of the 17th century often depicted the gout sufferer as a prosperous, portly, wine swelling nobleman. Today, among the more than 100 varieties of arthritis, gout is perhaps the most treatable (and “curable”) of all.
Continue ReadingTendinitis: rheumatism meets the computer age
These days, our fingers seem to be constantly typing on cell phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, video games and a host of other electronic devices. Many patients complain that they are “working the fingers to the bone.” They’re learning, the hard way, about tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome.
Continue ReadingWhat is arthritis?
Sometimes, this is the very first question I am asked –in the exam room, or on the lecture circuit. Arthritis is inflammation of the joints, causing redness, swelling, stiffness, warmth and soreness.
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