Volume 196 - Issue 6
RA at a glance
Author: Phillip C Vecchio
Med J Aust 2012; 196 (6): 415. || doi: 10.5694/mja11.11383
Published online: 2 April 2012
Published online: 2 April 2012
EVER WANTED an update on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) without having to wade through pages of complex science or a heavy hardcover volume? If so, then Fast facts: rheumatoid arthritis is for you. This adjunct to core knowledge for the non-specialist covers all the requisite points in the smallest possible space. Blending the necessary content ...
Fast facts: rheumatoid arthritis, 2nd ed.
John D Isaacs, Larry W Moreland. Oxford: Oxford Health Press, 2011 (115 pp, $27.50). ISBN 9781905832.
EVER WANTED an update on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) without having to wade through pages of complex science or a heavy hardcover volume? If so, then Fast facts: rheumatoid arthritis is for you.
This adjunct to core knowledge for the non-specialist covers all the requisite points in the smallest possible space. Blending the necessary content in such a little book, while trying to satisfy a variety of audiences, is a difficult task. Isaacs, professor of clinical rheumatology at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, and Moreland, chief of rheumatology at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States, through their amalgamated clinical and academic experience, have achieved this goal — with students to senior clinicians all equally able to learn or revise this topic with the help of this text and without too much effort.
The science presented is neither daunting nor superficial, and there are a number of useful illustrations throughout. The 100 or so pages are peppered with “key points” tables, which are useful when thumbing through the essentials, or revising for whatever aim. The clinical manifestations are summarised in adequate detail and treatment is covered well, particularly contemporary management and biologic agents.
The only disappointment is that the stereotypes of classic rheumatoid deformities are still illustrated. These graphics may suggest the outmoded view that RA equals deformities, whereas we know they are definitely not required for diagnosis or intervention. The point should be made that such deformities are a result of a failure of early diagnosis and preventive treatment. These days, RA is reversible synovitis in the great majority, and I would have preferred to see the demonstration of subtle swelling, for example, to set the scene in modern practice.
Book pricing is never predictable and this one seems to be set at the expensive end of the softcover spectrum. However, the book does deliver value, in that, you are guaranteed to finish its very readable format and to know much more about RA afterwards, without having had to make an onerous time commitment.