Rheumatism or Rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the heart, bones,
joints, kidney, skin and lung. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called
rheumatology.
The term "rheumatism" is still used in colloquial speech and historical contexts, but is no longer
frequently used in medical or technical literature; it would be fair to say that there is no longer any
recognized disorder called, simply, "rheumatism". 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". Modern medicine, both
conventional and complementary, recognises that the different rheumatic disorders have different causes
(and several of them have multiple causes) and require different kinds of treatment. Most sources dealing
with rheumatism tend to focus on arthritis. However "non-articular rheumatism", also known as "regional
pain syndrome" or "soft tissue rheumatism" can cause just as much discomfort and difficulty
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