RHEUMATOLOGIST and chairman of St George and Sutherland Medical Research Foundation, John Edmonds, 73, has retired after 50 years in practice.
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The keen yachtsmen graduated from medicine at Sydney University in 1965 and went on to specialise in rheumatology in 1971.
At the time little was known about joint disease and arthritis, and this attracted Professor Edmonds to the field.
Arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions refer to more than 100 different conditions that affect the muscles, bones and joints.
‘‘Rheumatology does really have to take in the whole person, and that is terribly interesting,’’ Professor Edmonds said.
He said he said he was most proud of the advancement in the treatment of inflammatory joint disease.
There are two main types of arthritis: degenerative [osteoarthritis], where the joints wear out, and inflammatory, such as rheumatoid arthritis.
‘‘When I first started, rheumatology waiting rooms were full of people in wheelchairs.
‘‘You don’t see that these days, because even though people still get osteoarthritis in their knees and hips, my colleagues next door like Professor Ronald Sekel [of St George Private Hospital] replace them — so that’s very good.
‘‘When I first started a lot of the drugs were so toxic and people often left the drug therapies too late because they were afraid of using these drugs and by that stage the damage was done or had started.
‘‘And so we learnt over the years to get in early and treat aggressively and try and get the disease under control.’’
Professor Edmonds continues as the chairman of the medical research foundation.
‘‘We have this really enthusiastic [foundation] board which is ambitious and I’ve just been talking to a person involved in further developing the strategic research plan for St George Hospital and it’s all coming together very nicely.’’
The research foundation allocated a record $500,000 in grants to researchers at St George and Sutherland hospitals this year. Up to $300,000 was also offered to increase the capacity of research at the hospitals, taking the total research funding pool in 2014-15 to close to $1 million.
Cath Whitehurst, director of operations at St George Hospital, said Professor Edmonds ‘‘represents the best elements of doctoring and his dedication and commitment to healthcare is inspiring’’.
‘‘I join St George and Sutherland Hospital staff in sincerely thanking Professor Edmonds for his lifetime commitment to medicine and wish him all the good things that come in a well-earned retirement.’’
Professor Edmonds races with the Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club during summer and the Royal Australian Naval Sailing Association in the winter out of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia at Darling Point.
‘‘One of things that is fascinating about sailing is that by and large making a sailing boat go and turn around is pretty easy unless conditions are terribly severe.
‘‘But racing and winning and so on is extraordinarily subtle.
‘‘It depends on very tiny adjustments to strategy, and so on.’’
Donations: stgeorgemrf.com.au
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