Rheumatic Diseases and the Environment

In this age of environmental consciousness, a book exploring the relationship between environmental exposure and rheumatic diseases is of great general interest, particularly to practising rheumatologists and other health care providers, regulators and lawmakers who deal with environmentally associated rheumatic diseases. The diseases covered range from those related to industrial or environmental exposure to toxic substances (e.g., toxic oil syndrome, silicone-related rheumatic diseases), other environmental factors (e.g., fibromyalgia syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome) to rheumatic syndromes that are considered to be generated by workplace situations (e.g., low back pain, osteoarthritis). The first 2 of the 6 parts that make up the text are dedicated to a general discussion of the epidemiologic aspects of environmental and occupational connective tissue diseases, the laboratory testing and diagnosis of selected rheumatic diseases, and the mechanism of autoimmunity in environmentally related rheumatic diseases. This sets the tone for the discussion of various environmental exposure-associated rheumatic diseases in the 3 parts that follow.