Rheumatism

Chronic rheumatism is a disease attacking persons of middle age, or after, and is seen more commonly in poor, hard working individuals who have been exposed to cold and damp, as laborers and washerwomen. Several of the larger joints, as the knees, shoulders, and hips, are usually affected, but occasionally only one joint is attacked. There is little swelling and no redness about the joint; the chief symptoms are pain on motion, stiffness, and tenderness on pressure. The pain is increased by cold, damp weather, and improved by warm, dry weather. There is no fever. The general health suffers if the pain is severe and persistent, and patients become pale, dyspeptic, and weak. The disease tends rather to grow worse than recover, and the joints, after a long time, to become immovable and misshapen. Life is not, however, shortened to any considerable degree by chronic rheumatism. Heart disease is not caused by this form of rheumatism, although it may arise from somewhat similar tendencies existing in the same patient. It may be distinguished from other varieties of rheumatism by the fact that the larger joints are those attacked, and also by the age of the patients and general progress of the disease. It very rarely follows acute rheumatism.

In this disease there is pain in the muscles, which may be constant, but is more pronounced on movement. Exposure to cold and wet, combined with muscular strain, frequently excite an attack. On the other hand, it often occurs during hot, dry, fine weather. Attacks last usually but a few days, but may be prolonged for weeks. The pain may be dull, as if the muscle had been bruised, but is often very sharp and cramplike. There is, commonly, slight, if any, fever, and no general disturbance of the health. The following are the most common varieties:

Notwithstanding the frequency with which one encounters allusions to gout in English literature, it is unquestionably a rare disease in the United States. In the Massachusetts General Hospital there were, among 28,000 patients admitted in the last ten years, but four cases of gout. This is not an altogether fair criterion, as patients with gout are not generally of the class who seek hospitals, nor is the disease one of those which would be most likely to lead one into a hospital. Still, the experience of physicians in private practice substantiates the view of the rarity of gout in this country.

This variety of rheumatism is quite distinct from the other forms, being in all probability due to some special germ. It occurs in temperate climates during the fall, winter, and spring less often in summer. Persons more frequently suffer between the ages of ten and forty years. It is rare in infants; their pain and swelling of the limbs can be attributed more often to scurvy, or to surgical disease with abscess of joint or bone. Exposure to cold and damp, in persons insufficiently fed, fatigued, or overworked, is the most common exciting cause.

Scurvy used to be much more common than it is now. In the Civil War there were nearly 50,000 cases in the Union Army. Sailors and soldiers have been the common victims, but now the disease occurs most often among the poorly fed, on shore. It is caused by a diet containing neither fresh vegetables, preserved vegetables, nor vegetable juices. In the absence of vegetables, limes, lemons, oranges, or vinegar will prevent the disease. It is also thought that poisonous substances in the food may occasion scurvy, as tainted meat has experimentally produced in monkeys a disease resembling it. Certain conditions, as fatigue, cold, damp quarters, mental depression and homesickness, favor the development of the disease. It attacks all ages, but is most severe in the old.

Notwithstanding the name, this disease has no connection with either gout or the other forms of rheumatism described. It occurs much more frequently in women, with the exception of that form in which a single joint is attacked. The disease may appear at any age, but more often it begins between the years of thirty and fifty five. The cause is still a matter of doubt, although it often follows, or is associated with, nervous diseases, and in other cases the onset seems to be connected with the existence of influenza or gonorrhea, so that it may be of germ origin. Constant exposure to cold and dampness, excessive care and anxiety, and injury are thought to favor the disease. The disease is sometimes limited to the smaller joints of the fingers and toes, little, hard knobs appearing on them. At times the joints may be swollen, tender, and red, and are usually so at the beginning of the disease, as well as at irregular intervals, owing to indigestion, or following injury. At first only one joint, as of the middle finger, may be attacked, and often the corresponding finger on the other hand is next affected. The joints of the fingers become enlarged, deformed, and stiffened. The results of the disease are permanent so far as the deformity is concerned and the stiffness which causes interference with the movement of the finger joints, but the disease may stop during any period of its development, leaving a serviceable, though somewhat crippled, hand. In these cases the larger joints are not generally involved. There is some evidence to indicate that this form of the disease is more commonly seen in the long lived.