RHEUMATISM

Rheumatism is not a single disease. It pertains to a whole range of conditions. It refers to an acute or chronic illness which is characterized by pain and swelling of the muscles, ligaments and tendons, or the joints. Rheumatism may also involve internal organs including:

• The heart
• The skin
• The kidneys
• The lungs

The term "rheumatism" is still used in colloquial speech and historical contexts, but is no longer frequently used in medical or technical literature; there is no longer any recognized disorder simply called "rheumatism."
This disease is most common among people above 45 years of age.

Cause-
There is no particular cause for rheumatism. Some of the risk factors are given below-
1.Old age
2.Hereditary
3.Hormonal disorder
4.Infection of teeth, tonsils and gallbladder etc.



Types-
Rheumatism has been more specifically classified, based on location and characteristics of symptoms, as:

• localized rheumatism (e.g. bursitis)
• regional rheumatism (e.g. temporo mandibular joint pain)
• generalized rheumatism (e.g. fibromyalgia)
• psychogenic rheumatism (e.g. muscle and joint pain expressed is inconsistent with actual physiology and patient is thought to have psychological reasons for the symptoms)

Rheumatic Disorder/ Condition-
Those disorders which affect muscles, tendons, ligaments, bone and joints are known as rheumatic disorders.
Common types are-
1.Rheumatoid arthritis 
2.Osteo-arthritis 
3.Gout 
4.Ankylosing spondylitis 
5.Tennis elbow 
6.Frozen shoulder 
7.Cervical spondylitis  
8.Fibrositis 

Symptoms of rheumatism-
The onset of the acute variety of rheumatism is characterized by fever, intense soreness, and pain. In the acute muscular type, the area becomes so sensitive that even the weight of bed clothing aggravates the pain. It may settle into a chronic state under a wrong mode of treatment. If the disease is not treated properly in the acute stage, it may become chronic. The symptoms of chronic muscular rheumatism are pain and stiffness of the affected muscles. In the case of chronic articular rheumatism (pain in the joints), pain and stiffness are felt in one or more joints of the body, with swelling in most cases.

Diagnosis-
1.Complete blood picture
2.X-ray of affected joint 

Treatment-
A vast number of traditional herbal remedies were recommended for "rheumatism". Modern medicine, both conventional and complementary, recognizes that the different rheumatic disorders have different causes (and several of them have multiple causes) and require different kinds of treatment. 

Role of homoeopathy
Homoeopathy plays an important role in cases of rheumatism. Homoeopathic medicines have been proved effective in reducing the intensity of symptoms. Along with this, proper exercise is advisable to the patient. The medicine is selected on the basis of the constitution of the patient and helps in curing the disease.

 

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