rheumatism

A non-specific name given to aches and pains in muscles, particularly in the shoulders and back, and common in older people. The absence of fever and serological abnormalities distinguishes the condition from inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

The term "rheumatism" is still used in colloquial speech and historical contexts, but is no longer frequently used in medical or technical literature; The traditional term covers such a range of different problems that to ascribe symptoms to "rheumatism" is not to say very much: arthritis and rheumatism between them cover at least 200 different conditions.

A vast number of traditional herbal remedies were recommended for "rheumatism". However "non-articular rheumatism", also known as "regional pain syndrome" or "soft tissue rheumatism" can cause just as much discomfort and difficulty.

The major rheumatic disorders currently recognised include:

Ankylosing spondylitis Back pain Bursitis/ Tendonitis, Shoulder pain, wrist, biceps, leg, knee (patellar), ankle, hip, and Achilles Capsulitis Fibromyalgia Neck pain Osteoarthritis Psoriatic arthritis Rheumatic fever Rheumatic heart disease (a long-term complication of Rheumatic fever) Rheumatoid arthritis Systemic lupus erythematosus Temporal arteritis and Polymyalgia rheumatica Tenosynovitis.

Although these disorders probably have little in common in terms of their epidemiology, they do share two characteristics: they cause chronic (though often intermittent) pain, and they are difficult to treat. The very long list of supposed herbal remedies for rheumatism no doubt reflects the intractable nature of the problems it involves, and so, perhaps, does the fact that are no fewer than six patron saints for sufferers from rheumatism: Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Saint Colman, Saint James the Greater, Saint Killian, Saint Servatus, and Saint Totnan.