REPRINT: Musculoskeletal disorders and iron overload: comment on American College of Rheumatology guidelines for initial evaluation of adult patient with acute musculoskeletal symptoms 1996

I was only 24-years-old when I published a correction to the world's biggest rheumatology organization's "guidelines for the initial evaluation of the adult patient with acute musculoskeletal symptoms

Reprint and History:

• Vasquez A. Musculoskeletal disorders and iron overload disease: comment on the American College of Rheumatology guidelines for the initial evaluation of the adult patient with acute musculoskeletal symptoms. Arthritis Rheum. 1996 Oct;39(10):1767–8. doi: 10.1002/art.1780391027. PMID: 8843875

• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/art.1780391027

Hundreds of articles, videos, and CME-level conferences later, here is the short story of my first publication

Following the true path of any fledgling academician, I published my first article in the school newspaper (in 1994), progressively followed by publications in national magazines (Townsend Letter for Doctors [1994 and 1995]) and professional journals (Nutritional Perspectives [1994 and 1995]) before submitting to a “big league” specialty medical journal, no less than Arthritis and Rheumatism, the official Journal of The American College of Rheumatology.

I was only 24-years-old when I published a correction to the world’s biggest rheumatology organization’s “guidelines for the initial evaluation of the adult patient with acute musculoskeletal symptoms” in 1996

My first major publication was quite small (a “Letter to the Editor”) but the reason that it was a “major publication” for me is because it was in a top-level specialty medical journal by an internationally respected rheumatology organization. Further, I was offering (and they accepted) my correction to the organization’s clinical practice guidelines: American College of Rheumatology guidelines for the initial evaluation of the adult patient with acute musculoskeletal symptoms. This would be a significant accomplishment by an experienced physician specializing in Internal Medicine or Rheumatology, let alone a 24-year-old chiropractic student.

Previous installments in this series on “CLINICAL NUTRITION PHARMACOLOGY (ClinNutrPharmacol) Classes that You Never Received: Introduction to Vitamins, Metabolism, Laboratory Assessment of Nutritional Status, and Therapeutic Interventions by DrV” include the following:

1. Intro to Vitamin B1, thiamine

2. Intro to Vitamin B2, riboflavin

3. Intro to Vitamin B6, pyridoxine

4. Intro to Iron, iron deficiency, iron overload

5. Fatty acids and combination fatty acid therapy (CFAT)

6. Risk management, patient assessment, laboratory interpretation for six (6) components of the antiviral nutrition protocol

7. Index of videos on vitamin B12, cobalamin

8. Vitamin A

Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Brain Damage, Depression, Anxiety, Neuropathy from Methylmalonate: You need to test for MMA, as I told you in 2024 [B12 pharmacology, part7]

I was only 24-years-old when I wrote it (January 1996), and I had not even graduated from chiropractic college, one week following my birthday (March 1996); but by the time of our mutual acceptance and the final publication (October 1996) I had graduated, and they amended the publication to include my new credentials. All of this was 10 years before I attended medical school at University of North Texas Health Science Center for my third doctorate degree.

Full text as image:

I will share some of my other articles in future posts, such as:

1. Vasquez A, Manso G, Cannell J. The clinical importance of vitamin D (cholecalciferol): a paradigm shift with implications for all healthcare providers. Altern Ther Health Med. 2004 Sep-Oct;10(5):28–36; quiz 37, 94. PMID: 15478784.

2. Vasquez A. Health care for our bones: a practical nutritional approach to preventing osteoporosis. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2005 Mar-Apr;28(3):213. doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2005.02.004. PMID: 15855912.

3. Vasquez A. Reply to “role of Western diet in inflammatory autoimmune diseases” by Manzel et al. In current allergy and asthma reports (volume 14, issue 1, January 2014). Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2014 Aug;14(8):454. doi: 10.1007/s11882–014–0454–4. PMID: 24947682.

4. Vasquez A. Mitochondrial Medicine Arrives to Prime Time in Clinical Care: Nutritional Biochemistry and Mitochondrial Hyperpermeability (“Leaky Mitochondria”) Meet Disease Pathogenesis and Clinical Interventions. Integr Med (Encinitas). 2014 Aug;13(4):44–9. PMID: 26770108; PMCID: PMC4566442.

5. Vasquez A, Pizzorno J. Concerns About The Integrity of The Scientific Research Process-Focus On Recent Negative Publications Regarding Nutrition, Multivitamins, Fish Oil And Cardiovascular Disease. Integr Med (Encinitas). 2019 Feb;18(1):8–15. PMID: 31341427; PMCID: PMC6601430.