rheumatism

(roo′mă-tizm)

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[L. rheumatismus fr. Gr. rheumatismos, flux, rheum, catarrh]
A general, imprecise, colloquial, and somewhat old-fashioned term for acute and chronic conditions marked by inflammation, muscle soreness and stiffness, and pain in joints and associated structures. It includes inflammatory arthritis (infectious, rheumatoid, gouty), arthritis due to rheumatic fever or trauma, degenerative joint disease, neurogenic arthropathy, hydroarthrosis, myositis, bursitis, and fibromyalgia.
SEE: arthritis; SEE: rheumatic fever

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