For just over a year now, I’ve been searching for definitions or descriptions of a rare disease; CRPS, sometimes also called RSD. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, which often still goes by its former name in medical circles; Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy.
I’ve been looking for good definitions of CRPS/RSD in medical journals and other scientific publications, and decided to try a different tack to mark the one-year anniversary of my diagnosis. I’d look for this disease in old-fashioned hard-copy dictionaries!
Have you ever been into a doctor’s office and seen a variety of old medical textbooks? It occurred to me that some of these might be medical dictionaries, so I started asking my various physicians whether they kept a hard-copy medical dictionary at their office. My dermatologist, ophthalmologist, women’s health specialist, etc.
That usually led to a conversation about why I was asking – which was always a great opportunity to raise awareness of CRPS with physicians who wouldn’t normally encounter or treat it! And, in many cases, a quick search of the dictionary wouldn’t turn up anything useful; not even for the disease’s oldest name, causalgia.
So it was kind of nice to find this disease listed in a medical dictionary. In terms of awareness-raising, one-on-one with physicians, it was actually more striking when the disease wasn’t included in their dictionaries! Once they knew it was an elusive diagnosis and disease – I suppose – it became more intriguing from a medical and scientific perspective. I’ll call that an educated guess, as I’ve worked in healthcare (in bioethics, or medical ethics) for a long time now.
If the definition was short, I’d tap it out onto my phone (with full reference information, of course!). And if it was long, I’d ask to take a photo so that I could type it out at home; along with the full reference information. A couple of them gave me their dictionaries, because they now check medical information on-line, or using smartphone apps.
I was like a squirrel, storing away little bits of information (instead of nuts!), for when I was ready to use it! Squirrelling away information, I suppose ‘-) I’ve included even partial definitions here, if I thought they were either interesting or potentially useful.
Here are the results of my medical dictionary treasure-hunt. Much of the information is outdated – one of the dictionaries is almost 30 years old! – and this information is in no way medical advice!!!
Consider it more a historical look at what CPRS has been called throughout the years. If there was no mention in a dictionary of causalgia, CRPS, or RSD, I’d check for other definitions that could be useful, such as the term ‘reflex’ itself.
The New International Webster’s Vest Pocket Medical. Trident Press International. 2001:
Pain: “…The mechanics of pain are not thoroughly understood…”
Reflex: “An automatic, involuntary, or learned response to a stimuli. Most of the actions of the body that allow it to function normally are reflex actions, such as the release of perspiration to adjust body heat, the secretion of digestive juices when food is ingested, or the adjustment of the eye to accommodate available light… The failure of the body to respond in a normal or expected way to stimuli may also be a sign of disruption in the neural function.”
Webster’s New World Medical Dictionary. Second Edition. Co-Editors: Frederick Hecht, MD, FAAP, & William C. Shiel, Jr., MD, FACP. Wiley Publishing, Inc. 2003:
Pain: “A sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pain has both physician and emotional components. The physical part of pain results from nerve stimulation. Pain may be contained to a discrete area, as in an injury, or it may be more diffuse, as in disorders such as fibromyalgia. Pain is mediated by specific nerve fibers that carry the pain impulses to the brain.”
Pain management: “The process of providing medical care that alleviates or reduces pain. Pain management is an extremely important part of healthcare because patients who are forced to remain in severe pain often become agitated and/or depressed and have poorer treatment outcomes than patients who do not remain in severe pain… Massage, acupuncture, acupressure, and biofeedback have also shown some validity for increased pain control in some patients.”
Reflex: “An involuntary reaction. For example, the corneal reflex is the blink that occurs upon irritation of the eye.””
Reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome: “A condition that features a group of typical symptoms, including pain (often perceived as burning pain), tenderness, and swelling of an extremity. Reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome is associated with varying degrees of sweating, warmth and/or coolness, flushing, discoloration, and shiny skin.”
Sympathetic nervous system: “A part of the nervous system that serves to accelerate the heart rate, constrict blood vessels, and raise blood pressure…”
Syndrome: “A combination of symptoms and signs that together represent a disease process”. For a description of the differences between a sign and a symptom, se *** Sign or symptom? (15.12.2008)***
Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, 25th Edition, Illustrated. Thomas Lathrop Stedman, MD (1853-1938); Editor William R. Hensyl. Williams & Watkins. 1990:
Causalgia: “[G. kausis, burning + algos, pain]. Persistent severe burning sensation of the skin, usually following direct or indirect (vascular) partial injury of a sensory nerve, accompanied by cutaneous changes (temperature and sweating).”
Dystrophy: “[dys- + G. trophë, nourishment). Dystrophia; progressive changes that may result from defective nutrition of a tissue or organ.”
Pain: “[L. poena, a fine, a penalty]. 1. An unpleasant sensation associated with actual or potential tissue damage, and mediated by specific nerve fibers to the brain where its conscious appreciation may be modified by various factors. 2…”
Reflex: “[L. reflexus, pp or re-flecto, to bend back]. 1. An involuntary in response to a stimulus applied to the periphery and transmitted to the nervous centers in the brain or spinal cord…”
Syndrome: [G. syndrome, a running together, tumultuous concourse; (in med.) a concurrence of symptoms, fr. syn, together + dromos, a running}. The aggregate of signs and symptoms associated with any morbid process, and constituting together the picture of the disease.”
Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 18th Edition. Editors: James B. Wyngaarden, MD & Lloyd H. Smith, Jr., MD. W.B. Saunders Company. 1988:
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophies: “This is a term that applies to pain, hyperalgesia, hyperesthesia, and autonomic changes, usually after injury to an extremity.”