Pharmacology for Technicians: Rheumatology

What in the world is rheumatology?! It’s the study of joints and treatment of joint related inflammation and tissue damage. This includes some specific disease states, like rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (a.k.a. lupus), Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and gout. It also includes non-specific disease states like osteoarthritis, back pain, and tendonitis/bursitis. These disease states can impact body systems outside of the immediate joint area as several of them are autoimmune disorders, which causes a lot of confusion. In this session, we will discuss what causes these diseases, the pharmacology of how the medications help, and what pharmacy technicians should know about each of them.