rheumatoid arthritis

noun

|Updated on: 5 Jun 2018

Definition of rheumatoid arthritis

: a usually chronic autoimmune disease that is characterized especially by pain, stiffness, inflammation, swelling, and sometimes destruction of joints — compare osteoarthritis

See rheumatoid arthritis defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of rheumatoid arthritis from the Web

With the hope that someday cures may be found for both pancreatic cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, memorial donations may be made to either The Ron Foley Foundation (www.ronsrun.org) or The Arthritis Foundation (www.arthritis.org).

— courant.com, "Kenneth Miesmer," 22 May 2018
Anthony had back surgery right before the hurricane, and Angela struggles with rheumatoid arthritis and Sjögren’s, an autoimmune disease.

— lindsay peyton, Houston Chronicle, "For Harvey victims, a cart of homemade meals feels heaven sent," 4 May 2018
Prescription drugs for rheumatoid arthritis include powerful biologic medications sold under brand names Humira and Enbrel, which act on the immune system to slow the disease.

— laura landro, WSJ, "Many in Middle Age Have Arthritis—They Just Don’t Know It," 22 Apr. 2018
The Most-Complete Research Has To Do With Joint Health Going back to at least the early 1990s, studies have linked collagen supplementation with reduced symptoms of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

— markham heid, Good Housekeeping, "6 Things You Need To Know Before Taking A Collagen Supplement," 19 May 2017
He has also been accused of falsely diagnosing patients with degenerative diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis.

— kathleen joyce, Fox News, "Texas doctor accused of administering chemo to patients who didn't need it," 17 May 2018
The doctor, who is no stranger to the courts and had been publicly reprimanded by the Texas Medical Board in the past, was indicted Monday and accused of falsely diagnosing patients with various degenerative diseases including rheumatoid arthritis.

— jen christensen, michael nedelman and paul murphy, CNN, "Texas doctor, accused of giving fake diagnoses, faces $240 million health care fraud case," 15 May 2018
Moody’s also cited a new class of migraine drugs known as anti-CGRP, as well as more effective medications for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, for bolstering outlooks.

— ed silverman, STAT, "As biosimilars emerge, the credit outlook for big pharma is going to change," 26 Apr. 2018
Sometimes dry eye is less about your environment and more about medications that can dry out your eyes, like antihistamines and decongestants, or health conditions that can do the same, like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

— korin miller, SELF, "How to Deal With Dry, Itchy Eyes," 18 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rheumatoid arthritis.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of rheumatoid arthritis

1859

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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