HYSTERICAL OR MIMETIC JOINT AFFECTIONS
Under this heading, Sir Benjamin Brodie, in 1822, described an affection
of joints, characterised by the prominence of subjective symptoms and
the absence of pathological changes. Although most frequently met with
in young women with an impressionable nervous system, and especially
among those in good social circumstances, it occurs occasionally in men.
The onset may be referred to injury or exposure to cold, or may be
associated with some disturbance of the emotions or of the generative
organs; or the condition may be an involuntary imitation of the symptoms
of organic joint disease presented by a relative or friend.
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