| n. | 1. | (Med.) A general disease characterized by painful, often multiple, local inflammations, usually affecting the joints and muscles, but also extending sometimes to the deeper organs, as the heart.
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| Noun | 1. | rheumatism - any painful disorder of the joints or muscles or connective tissues |
| 2. | rheumatism - 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 jointSynonyms: atrophic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis |
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