rheumatoid arthritis

noun

Updated on: 11 Apr 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

Dusenbery, who was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, masterfully takes down the wide-reaching systemic gender bias in science and medicine that prevents doctors from truly hearing female patients.

— sarah klein, Health.com, "How to Actually Get Your Doctor to Listen to You," 22 Mar. 2018
Women are three to nine times more likely than men to suffer from autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS), Grave’s disease, celiac disease, systemic lupus erythematous, and rheumatoid arthritis.

— diana gitig, Ars Technica, "Testosterone may protect men from autoimmune diseases," 2 Feb. 2018
Iverson, of Joliet, said that along with insulin, Bell requires a regular injection to treat her rheumatoid arthritis.

— mike nolan, Daily Southtown, "Family seeks help locating missing Richton Park woman," 23 Mar. 2018
That study was authored by consultants to Abbott, which at the time was making the blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira (Abbott spun off its pharmaceutical business, AbbVie, a year later).

— alexia elejalde-ruiz, chicagotribune.com, "Daughter's epilepsy controlled by drug, then insurer stopped covering it. Bill would ban such midyear changes.," 14 Mar. 2018
Such non-profit institutes study the basic nature of human health, work that has led to such landmark drugs as Humira, which is used to fight rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, and Avastin, which fights cancer.

— gary robbins, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Salk Institute reports robust financial health amid hard times for biomedical institutes," 5 Mar. 2018
Thomas, who has rheumatoid arthritis and requires full time care, sees her own children infrequently and began to look forward to calls from Randy T. Perry, the mint's sales representative, according to court documents.

— l.m. sixel, Houston Chronicle, "Elderly woman says coin seller duped her into $1.3 million in purchases," 15 Feb. 2018
Hence the era of erectile dysfunction commercials for Viagra and Cialis yielded to omnipresent spots for Humira and Enbrel, used for rheumatoid arthritis and a range of other conditions.

— danny hakim, New York Times, "Ask Your Doctor. Until Then, Here’s a Word From Our Sitcom.," 9 Mar. 2018
Apparently, patients who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and had semi-regular vodka drinks throughout the month felt less pain and inflammation associated with their disease, according to this study. 7.

— leah silverman, Town & Country, "7 Ways Vodka Is Actually Great For Your Health," 5 Mar. 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

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS Defined for English Language Learners

rheumatoid arthritis

noun

Definition of rheumatoid arthritis for English Language Learners

medical : a serious disease that continues to become worse over a long period of time and that causes the joints to become very painful, stiff, and swollen

Medical Dictionary

rheumatoid arthritis

noun

medical Definition of rheumatoid arthritis

: a usually chronic disease that is considered an autoimmune disease and is characterized especially by pain, stiffness, inflammation, swelling, and sometimes destruction of joints —abbreviation RA — called also atrophic arthritis; compare osteoarthritis