Zeitschrift für Rheumatologie
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The use of biologicals in the therapy of rheumatic diseases allows more effective treatment of patients with very active disease. Such regimens, however, can induce a more severe treatment-related immunosuppression and, as a consequence, opportunistic infections that are rarely seen with conventional immunosuppressive therapy appear to occur more frequently. ⋯ Therefore, such treatments should be used with caution in patients who have been or are being treated with combined immunosuppressive therapy including corticosteroids. Elderly patients are specifically at risk for this "normal" side effect.
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Comparative Study Controlled Clinical Trial
[Effects of a cognitive-behavioral patient education on fibromyalgia: a controlled efficacy study].
The efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral patient education program was compared with the efficacy of treatment based solely on patient education. Both forms of treatment were integrated into the inpatient rehabilitation program. For therapy of fibromyalgia a multimodal therapy has been shown to be effective. Stress management, pain management and relaxation techniques enhance the ability to cope with the disease. ⋯ Multimodal inpatient rehabilitation programs can have a strong positive impact on the course of the disease for patients with fibromyalgia. A cognitive-behavioral treatment appears to strongly influence coping with the disease.
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Various rheumatic symptoms can occur in association with malignancies and are termed the so-called paraneoplastic arthropathy. The clinical picture is often similar to primary inflammatory rheumatic diseases. ⋯ The case of a patient with tibial pain and unilateral knee arthritis as precursors of a paraneoplastic syndrome is presented. The patient presented with the clinical manifestation of small cell lung cancer 2 years after the first presentation in the rheumatology clinic.
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Bloodletting was widely used in antiquity in the setting of a humoral-pathological concept as a general treatment for all ailments, as well as during the middle ages primarily as a remedy for the treatment of inflammatory and infectious diseases. The general population was convinced of the efficacy of this treatment for centuries, even requesting it on occasion on a prophylactic basis. Although questioned early in history, the number of sceptical voices increased in the 17th and 18th centuries. ⋯ Bloodletting was also the standard treatment for gout from antiquity up to the beginning of the 19th century. Following its differentiation in 1800, chronic articular rheumatism was no longer treated with venae sectio. Today, there is no indication for bloodletting therapy in rheumatology.
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Historical Article
[History of the German Society of Rheumatology 1947-2007].
The "German Society of Rheumatology" was founded in Bad Neuenahr in the Federal Republic of Germany In 1947. The society perceived itself as the successor to the "German Society for the Abatement of Rheumatism". ⋯ In the 1980s serious conflict developed within the society which could be resolved without the divisions taking real form. The 1990s were characterized by organizational changes, with the help of which the society hopes to confront changing conditions in the health system.