rheumatism

/ˌruməˈtɪzəm/

/ˈrumətɪzəm/

Other forms: rheumatisms

Rheumatism is a medical condition of painful inflammation in muscles, joints, or connective tissue. If you volunteer to help an elderly woman with rheumatism in her hands, you might help her write, or carry her bags.

Rheumatism comes from the old Greek medical word rheum, which means flux or flow, and comes from outdated medical ideas about the flow of humors causing pain or stiffness in the joints. Now, rheumatism is defined as inflammation in the joints, muscles, or tissues. If someone has rheumatism, their movement is stiff and painful.

Definitions of rheumatism

1. noun

   any painful disorder of the joints or muscles or connective tissues
   type of:

   disease

   an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning
2. noun

   a chronic autoimmune disease with inflammation of the joints and marked deformities; something (possibly a virus) triggers an attack on the synovium by the immune system, which releases cytokines that stimulate an inflammatory reaction that can lead to the destruction of all components of the joint
   synonyms: atrophic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis

   types:

   psoriatic arthritis

   a form of rheumatoid arthritis usually affecting fingers and toes and associated with psoriasis

   Still's disease, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

   a form of rheumatoid arthritis that affects children; large joints become inflamed and bone growth may be retarded

   type of:

   arthritis

   inflammation of a joint or joints

   autoimmune disease, autoimmune disorder

   any of a large group of diseases characterized by abnormal functioning of the immune system that causes your immune system to produce antibodies against your own tissues