QUANTITATION OF THE ACTIVITY OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS I. A METHOD FOR RECORDING ITS SYSTEMIC MANIFESTATIONS

Journal/Book: Reprinted from The American Journal of the Medical Sciences Vol. 231 No. 6 June 1956. 1956;

Abstract: BY JOHN LANSBURY M.D. PROFESSOR OF CLINICAL MEDICINE From the Department of Medicine Temple University School of Medicine Philadelphia Pennsylvania Summary and Conclusions. 1) The activity of rheumatoid arthritis is gauged by the degree of the body's inflammatory response. This response may be systemic or articular or both. Joint manifestations are only one facet of the disease picture. 2) Until now the methods for evaluating rheumatoid activity have been centered an examination of the joints and the systemic manifestations of the disease have been neglected. 3) A quick and apparently reliable method for recording systemic manifestations of the disease is presented which includes a method for objectively evaluating subjective symptoms by measuring their duration rather than their intensity. 4) The evaluation of the systemic manifestations of the disease is recommended as an adjunct to joint evaluation in arriving at a reliable estimate of the status of the patient. ___MH

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