President's Message

Dr. (Prof) Yojana Gokhale

I wish to thank each and every member of Maharashtra Rheumatology Association, for placing your trust in me by electing me as the President of this association. I envisage MRA increasing awareness of Rheumatic Diseases amongst medical doctors in Maharashtra, especially Rheumatology Beyond joints.
We all know Rheumatic diseases are not just restricted to joints .They often involve vital organs like the kidneys, the heart, the lungs, the brain-nerves-muscles, the eyes-ears-nose, to the skin and mucous membranes, the blood vessels. Patients suffering from Rheumatic Diseases may thus have problems ranging from proteins or red cells in urine, hypertension in the young, excess fatigue, breathlessness, depression, muscle weakness, vision problems, hearing problems to skin rashes, mouth ulcers or gangrene and not just painful swollen joints or back pain. The very first sign or symptom of an underlying Rheumatic Disease may be due to any of these organs being affected. In this era of specialization, the patient may seek opinion from a cardiologist, pulmonologist, nephrologist, neurologist/ psychiatrist, ophthalmologist, ENT surgeon, dermatologist, orthopaedic surgeon, much before they are seen by a Rheumatologist. As specialists, we often connect these threads of symptoms (often vague and seemingly unrelated) across multiple organs, in a unified way, joining all those dots. Most of the diseases we deal with are immune mediated and systemic in nature, needing systemic immunosuppressants. We maintain a fine balance between risk and benefits of these drugs at the same time monitor disease activity and drug side effects even in pregnant women, enabling most to have a safe ante natal journey and a fruitful pregnancy, through judicious use of our medications, providing many women the joys of motherhood, that hitherto were denied to them.
Any delay in diagnosis and treatment of systemic rheumatic diseases can lead to permanent damage to vital organs or joint deformities. Inadequate control of arthritis leads to poor quality of life and we Rheumatologists, by choosing correct drugs and dose for patients help them improve their quality of life.

It is my endeavour to conduct collaborative academic activities throughout Maharashtra to increase awareness of Rheumatic Diseases and help our patients improve their overall health and not just health of their bones and joints.