Many books about disease promise cures. Sufferers often go from one book to another without getting better. Between 10 and 20 percent of Americans of all ages will suffer from some sort of arthritis. Despite hundreds of prescription and over-the-counter products that target "the aches and pains of arthritis," it is frequently misunderstood. There are dozens of types of arthritis, some serious and life-threatening. Figuring out what type of arthritis a person has is key to the treatment and overall risk of disability a patient may have. This guide provides a straightforward and clear examination of arthritis and serves as a complete home reference for anyone.
John D. Clough, M.D. was born in northwestern Iowa and grew up in Des Moines, Iowa; Augusta, Maine; and Silver Spring, Maryland. He received BS and MD degrees from George Washington University and in 1965 went to Cleveland Clinic to begin his postgraduate training in internal medicine. In 1967 he returned to suburban Maryland and began a three-year term as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service at the National Institutes of Health. There he pusued studies in immunology in the metabolism branch of the National Cancer Institute under the direction of Dr. Warren Strober.
In 1970 he returned to Cleveland Clinic to complete his postgraduate training and joined the rheumatology department as a staff member in 1971. He started the Special Immunnology Laboratory for the investigation of autoimmune disorders in 1972 and headed this laboratory until 1990. He was appointed chairman of the Department of Rheumatic and Immunologic Diseases in 1970, a post that he also held until 1990. He was appointed executive director of the Division of Health Affairs at the Cleveland Clinic in 1990, an administrative post that he held until 2004. He left that position to become publisher of the Cleveland Clinic Press, a position that he held until his retirement at the end of 2007.
Dr. Clough is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and of the American College of Rheumatology. He is currently chairman of the Ohio Public Health Council and sits on the boards of the Academy of Medicine of Cleveland and Northern Ohio and the Center for Health Affairs. He is the immediate past chairman of the board of the Cleveland Music School Settlement. He is married to pediatrician Mary L. Clough, and they have three children and eight grandchildren. He lives in Gates Mills, Ohio.
