myxedema

noun myx·ede·ma \ ˌmik-sə-ˈdē-mə \

Definition of myxedema

: severe hypothyroidism characterized by firm inelastic edema, dry skin and hair, and loss of mental and physical vigor

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myxedematous

play \-ˈde-mə-təs, -ˈdē-\ adjective

Origin and Etymology of myxedema

Note: Term introduced by the British physician William Miller Ord (1834-1902) in "On myxœdema, a term proposed to be applied to the essential condition in the 'cretinoid' affection occasionally observed in middle-aged women," Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. 61 (1878), p. 71: "As regards the class of cases immediately in question, my suggestion is that the whole collection of symptoms are related as effects to jelly-like swelling of the connective tissue, chiefly if not entirely consisting in an overgrowth of the mucus-yielding cement by which the fibrils of the white element are held together. Accordingly I propose to give the name of Myxœdema to the affection.""

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First Known Use: 1877

in the meaning defined above

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