Rheumatoid Arthritis HQ

Miscellaneous and Useful Links

Treatments & Tests

AboutArthritis.com - Rheumatoid Arthritis Related Medical Procedures & Tests: Antinuclear Antibody Test, Arthroscopy, Joint Aspiration (Arthrocentesis), Joint Replacement Surgery Of The Hand, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI Scan), Total Hip Replacement, Total Knee Replacement,
ArthritisCentral - Diagnostic Tests;
- ArthritisCentral - Lab Tests - Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) , Anti-DNA antibodies, Serum complement levels (C3, C4), Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), Rheumatoid Factor, Serum uric acid level, C-reactive protein, Anti-Scl-70 or Antitopoiso-merase I, Anticentromere antibodies, Anti-Ribonucleo-protein antibody (anti-RNP antibody), Anti-Sm antibody, Anti-SS-A (anti-Ro), Anti-SS-B (anti-La), Anti-histone antibody, Anti-cardiolipin antibody, Lupus anti-coagulant, HLA-B27, Complete blood count (CBC), Thyroid profile and TSH, Urinalysis, Blood, urea and nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine, Liver function tests, AST (SGOT), ALT (SGPT), Alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyl transpepti-dase (GGTP), Calcium,
- ArthritisCentral - X-Rays, MRI and Ultrasound Tests - X-rays, bone scan, computerized axial tomography (CT scan or CAT scan), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA)
- ArthritisCentral - Tissue Biopsies - Skin biopsy, Mucosal lip biopsy, Sural nerve biopsy, Synovial tissue biopsy, Testicular biopsy, Temporal artery biopsy, Muscle biopsy
- ArthritisCentral - Miscellaneous Arthritis Tests - Joint aspiration, Nerve condition velocities (NCVs), electromyo-gram (EMG),
Arthritis Rehabilitation - What it can do for you - the types of rehabilitation services that might be useful to you.
BestDoctors.com - is arthritis treated differently in Europe?
drdoc - Unconventional rheumatoid arthritis treatments (Dr David Gotlieb, South Africa, drdoc@iafrica.com, arthritis.co.za)
Things That Hurt When You Move: Tendonitis, Bursitis, and Other Joint Conditions What are the different syndromes (shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand, chest, hip, knee, ankle and foot), Treatment (resting and splinting, heat and cold, physical therapy, occupational therapy, medications, surgery), (Info@healthology.com, Ds@healthology.com, echeng@healthology.com, www.healthology.com)

Genes, Genetics and Arthritis

Arthritis Gene Therapy - (pslgroup.com)
ArthritisWebSite.com Chat Transcript - Genetic Research
CDC Wonder Public Health information, reports and data - a single point of access to a variety of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, guidelines, and public health data.
drdoc - Spondyloarthropathies (inflammatory bowel disease, crohns disease, ulcerative colitis, ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthritis, reiter syndrome, enteropathic arthritis all associated with the class 1 HLA B27 gene on chromosome 6) (Dr David Gotlieb, South Africa, drdoc@iafrica.com, arthritis.co.za)
Multipurpose Arthritis Center - UCSD - genetic epidemiology,
drdoc - The HLA genes associated with most forms of rheumatic disease (Ankylosing Spondylitis, Reiters Syndrome, Psoriatic Arthritis, Inflammatory bowel disease and spondylitis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Polyarticular Juvenile RA, Pauciarticular Juvenile RA, Juvenile Dermatomyositis, lupus, Sjogrens) (Dr David Gotlieb, South Africa, drdoc@iafrica.com, arthritis.co.za)
Genotyping Rheimatoid Arthritis - the European Consortium on Rheumatoid Arthritis Families ECRAF (this organization's purpose is to promote the identification of new susceptibility genes for rheumatoid arthritis), genotyping convention (Sabine Fauré faure@genethon.fr)
Osteoarthritis - genetic research to clone human cartilage
Rheumatoid Arthritis Facts - symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, development and progression RA, causes of RA (genetic, environmental, hormonal)
WebMD - Genetics of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Pain

Arthritis Pain - short term relief, long term relief,
ArthritisWebSite.com Chat Transcript - Pain and Prolotherapy (what is prolotherapy)
Pain management for arthritis - (psycport.com)
PslGroup - researcher links back pain to disabling arthritis

Finding Professional Help

ArthritisCentral - Rheumatologist Directory - (Joel Rutstein MD directory@arthritiscentral.com)
CNN - lupus and other autoimmune diseases are difficult to diagnose - get a second, third, and fourth opinion if necessary
BestDoctors.com - I have arthritis: must I see a specialist? (Richard Silver, MD)

Clinical Trials

Clinical Trials: Rheumatoid Arthritis - listing of rheumatoid arthritis medical trials in the United States.

African/Ethnic Specific Links

BlackHealthnet - Minority Health Site, rheumatoid arthritis facts, (blackhealthnet.com)
MARRTC - Arthritis Fact Sheet: Arthritis and African Americans - (marrtc@health.missouri.edu)
NIAMS - What Black Women Should Know About Lupus - (nih.gov/niams/healthinfo)
What Black Women Should Know About Lupus - lupus is three times more common in black women than in white women... (healthlink.mcw.edu)
Black and Hispanic adults are more likely to suffer from arthritis than their white counterparts, according to researchers.
A national survey of nearly 7,500 adults aged 70 and older found that 40% of blacks, 44% of Hispanics and 25% of whites reported seeing a doctor for arthritis in the previous year. Among those with the chronic condition, it tended to be more severe among blacks and Hispanics irrespective of socioeconomic factors such as income and education. Researchers have speculated that differences in bone density, job-related factors, obesity rates, smoking and dietary factors may contribute to risk. The survey was conducted by Dr. Dorothy D. Dunlop and colleagues from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The study authors note that the number of Americans with arthritis is expected to rise to more than 59 million people by the year 2020 from nearly 40 million people in 1990--the increase due largely to the aging of the population. SOURCE: Arthritis and Rheumatism 2001;44:212-221.