Rheumatic Diseases in Women & Children: Current Perspectives

by Shefali K Sharma, Sujata Sawhney

Rheumatic diseases are painful conditions usually caused by inflammation, swelling and pain in the joints or muscles. They can be due to wear and tear or due to hyperactivity of the immune system. In women, rheumatic diseases are mainly seen during pregnancy. The case worsens if they had rheumatic diseases before conceiving. In case of children, rheumatic diseases are generally hereditary and are also there is transition of the disease to adulthood. Rheumatic diseases have many ill effects during conceiving as well as after conceiving. After conceiving and giving birth, breast feeding to the child is not preferred in few cases. It is quite difficult in most of the women suffering from rheumatic diseases to conceive. It requires planning and proper medication for many months which may prolong even after the child is born. This is specially the case with rheumatic diseases related to hyperactivity of the immune system. The various rheumatic diseases are rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus nephritis and others. The problems associated with these rheumatic diseases during pregnancy and their specific medications are explained in detail.

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