Autoimmune & Immunosuppression
Corticosteroids and joint injections, the immunosuppressants, and hydroxychloroquine for lupus.
Corticosteroids in Rheumatology: The Fast, Powerful Bridge
You already know corticosteroids from the endocrine chapter — the most powerful anti-inflammatories we have. Here we see them in action against inflamed joints: as a fast bridge while slower drugs kick in, and injected straight into a single painful joint. The rules you learned still apply, with one satisfying new trick: putting the steroid exactly where it's needed.
Immunosuppressants: Turning Down an Overactive Immune System
When the immune system attacks the body's own organs — in lupus, vasculitis, or after a transplant — we need drugs that broadly turn it down. These immunosuppressants are powerful and genuinely life-saving, but they share one unavoidable price: an immune system that's weaker against infection. Learn the main players and the shared cautions, and a whole corner of medicine opens up.
Hydroxychloroquine & Lupus: An Old Malaria Drug's Second Life
One of the cornerstone drugs for lupus started life as an antimalarial — and it's a remarkably gentle, effective mainstay of treatment. Its story ties the antimicrobial chapter to autoimmune disease, and carries one specific, famous side effect that every patient on it is monitored for.
