What is Rheumatology?

Rheumatology is the medical specialty that is responsible for preventing, diagnosing and treating systemic musculoskeletal and autoimmune diseases. It is one of the specialties that has experienced the most advances in diagnosis and treatment in recent years.

There are more than 200 rheumatic diseases and they can affect any age range, from children to the elderly. As a whole, these pathologies affect one in four adults in Spain. They are the second cause of consultation, after acute respiratory infections, in Primary Care and the first cause of disability in our environment. Furthermore, diseases of the musculoskeletal system are the ones that deteriorate people's quality of life the most, above lung and heart diseases.

Musculoskeletal diseases affect bones, muscles and joints, as well as the tissues that surround them, and can cause pain, inflammation, stiffness, limitation of movement and deformity. On the other hand, systemic autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, Sjögren's syndrome, scleroderma or dermatomyosotis, can affect any organ in the body, such as the kidneys, lungs, skin, heart or brain