The Relationship between Modern Rheumatology and War: A Review

This chapter provides a brief review of how wars in recent history have shaped the development of rheumatology as a medical specialty. Rheumatology was a field well documented in the ancient world by various systems of medicine, including those of India, China and Ancient Greece. This history seems to have been forgotten and is not well known in the modern medical community. Nonetheless, in a civilian setting, it is significant for the fields of rheumatology and military medicine. Due to doctors treating soldiers' arthritis during World Wars I and II, many rheumatic disorders were identified for the first time. Doctors treating soldiers for a variety of musculoskeletal complaints during WWI and WW2 lead to the identification of new rheumatic diseases, not previously recognised in Western medicine. Chemical Weapons in both wars lead to the discovery of many Disease Modifying Anti Rheumatic Drugs (DMARDS) still commonly used today in rheumatology. This chapter seeks to reveal information from military history important to the field of rheumatology history. There were 93,000 documented cases of arthritis in US soldiers during World War I. The government was providing $10,000,000 annually to around 35,000 former service members for disabilities resulting from chronic arthritis ten years after World War I concluded in the US, indicating the significance of arthritis in military history. Many rheumatic illnesses were discovered for the first time as a result of physicians treating soldiers' arthritis during World Wars I and II. This history is important for the disciplines of rheumatology and military medicine in times of peace.