Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Arthritis \Ar*thri"tis\ ([aum]r*thr[imac]"t[i^]s), n. [L., fr. Gr. 'arqri^tis (as if fem. of 'arqri`tis belonging to the joints, sc. no`sos disease) gout, fr. 'a`rqron a joint.] (Med.) Any inflammation of the joints, including the gout. A variety of forms of arthritis are recognized, some of which (such as rheumatoid arthritis, also called arthritis deformans and arthritis nodosa) are chronic and progressive, and lead to incapacitation and deformity. [1913 Webster +PJC] ||
Wiktionary
n. (context pathology English) A chronic and progressive disease in which the immune system attacks the joints. It is characterised by pain, inflammation and swelling of the joints, stiffness, weakness, loss of mobility and deformity. Tissues throughout the body can be affected, including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and muscles.
WordNet
n. 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 [syn: atrophic arthritis, rheumatism]
Wikipedia
'''Rheumatoid arthritis ''' (RA) is a long-lasting autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involved, with the same joints typically involved on both sides of the body. The disease may also affect other parts of the body. This may result in a low red blood cell count, inflammation around the lungs, and inflammation around the heart. Fever and low energy may also be present. Often, symptoms come on gradually over weeks to months.
While the cause of rheumatoid arthritis is not clear, it is believed to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The underlying mechanism involves the body's immune system attacking the joints. This results in inflammation and thickening of the joint capsule. It also affects the underlying bone and cartilage. The diagnosis is made mostly on the basis of a person's signs and symptoms. X-rays and laboratory testing may support a diagnosis or exclude other diseases with similar symptoms. Other diseases that may present similarly include systemic lupus erythematosus, psoriatic arthritis, and fibromyalgia among others.
The goal of treatment is to reduce pain, decrease inflammation, and improve a person's overall functioning. This may be helped by balancing rest and exercise, the use of splints and braces, or the use of assistive devices. Pain medications, steroids, and NSAIDs are frequently used to help with symptoms. A group of medications called disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) may be used to try to slow the progression of disease. They include the medications hydroxychloroquine and methotrexate. Biological DMARDs may be used when disease does not respond to other treatments. However, they may have a greater rate of adverse effects. Surgery to repair, replace, or fusion joints may help in certain situations. Most alternative medicine treatments are not supported by evidence.
RA affects between 0.5 and 1% of adults in the developed world with between 5 and 50 per 100,000 people newly developing the condition each year. Onset is most frequent during middle age and women are affected 2.5 times as frequently as men. In 2013, it resulted in 38,000 deaths up from 28,000 deaths in 1990. The first recognized description of RA was made in 1800 by Dr. Augustin Jacob Landré-Beauvais (1772–1840) of Paris. The term rheumatoid arthritis is based on the Greek for watery and inflamed joints.
Usage examples of "rheumatoid arthritis".
Murphy was found to have anti-DNA antibodies, increased gamma globulin, and antibodies against thyroid, as well as antibodies found in rheumatoid arthritis.
We have two poor women living here with very bad rheumatoid arthritis.
His own assailant was cursing him and pushing up now from the sand, and as Joe spun around to deal with the threat, he was full of the meanness and fury that had gotten him thrown out of the youth-boxing league twenty years ago, seething with church-vandalizing rage - he was an animal now, a heartless predator, cat-quick and savage - and he reacted as though this stranger were personally responsible for poor Frank being crippled with rheumatoid arthritis, as if this sonofabitch had worked some hoodoo to make Frank's joints swell and deform, as if this wretched thug were the sole perpetrator who had somehow put a funnel in Captain Blane's ear and poured an elixir of madness into his head, so Joe kicked him in the crotch, and when the guy grunted and began to double over, Joe grabbed the bastard's head and at the same time drove a knee upward, shoving the face down into the knee and jamming the knee up hard into the face, a .
ACTH: a hormone that was sometimes used to combat symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
The old man's rheumatoid arthritis explained some of that, but for the last six weeks Ravi had been forced to keep his patient practically isolated from Tennant.
The American physician Philip Showalter Hench, working in Kendall's group, tried it on patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
I wouldn't think you'd put someone with severe rheumatoid arthritis in the attic bedroom.
Another disease the doctors find hard to treat, and with which I have had quite a lot of success, is rheumatoid arthritis, whose effects can be agonizing.
Those who inherit the trait for rheumatoid arthritis may also have gotten their gene that way.
Even from the other side of the room, Catherine could see the fingers knotted and twisted with the misshapen lumps of rheumatoid arthritis.
Perhaps Obadiah had rheumatoid arthritis, like Bill Klefton, though a less crippling case.
Specially useful for rheumatoid arthritis, also in chronic rheumatism and gout, relieving the pain and inflammation between the attacks, and lessening their recurrence if doses are continued.
Mary Watt, a very devout woman, who had suffered greatly from rheumatoid arthritis showed herself to me in spirit.