What is the difference between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis?

Some persons, especially the elderly, confuse osteoarthritis with rheumatoid arthritis. Complaining of the disease they have in mind strong pains in joints. The signs are similar but the difference between osteoarthritis and arthritis still exists. It is very important to know these differences in order to understand the processes that occur in the cartilaginous tissue and take the right actions for the treatment of ailments.

Osteoarthritis is the most frequent joint disease. In nature, it is an inflammatory process. This process leads to deformation of the joint. Most often, hands, feet and knees, elbow joints fall under the defeat. Disease in women is more common than in men. It happens that the pathology is found in children. The most common causes of the disease are virulent diseases. People who suffer a cold automatically fall into the risk zone. This zone includes tuberculosis and diabetics. The next reason is trauma and joint surgery. Osteoarthritis often occurs in places of surgical intervention or severe bruises. One of the causes of the disease is also the hereditary diseases of the joints. This does not mean that the disease can be transmitted by inheritance but the structure of the joints is genetically laid.

The factors that cause the appearance of such a disease include:

• heavy weight;
• persistent hypothermia;
• smoking;
• weak immunity.

During the rheumatic type of lesion you can observe various symptoms but the overall picture is this: heart, mixed, nervous and articular failures.

Symptoms of osteoarthritis include any inflammatory disorder in the joints:

• swollen joint and;
• painful sensations with prolonged physical punishment;
• feeling of warmth in the joint but only as a manifestation of an acute form of a disease;
• wooden motions.

Second disease (Rheumatoid arthritis) is a chronic systemic disease. It can fluctuate from a severe manifestation to a mild form of progress of a disease. The disease can lead to complex bone and muscle deformities. As a result patients have complex joint damages. The name of the disease was suggested not to be confused with other joint diseases – osteoarthritis and rheumatism. The cause of the disease is unknown. There are factors that can trigger the development of rheumatoid type pathology. One of the factors are antigens which are similar to retroviruses. Even now searches of agents which promote occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis proceed. It was found that rheumatoid arthritis is accompanied by autoimmune disorders. There is an opinion that in the occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis there is a birth or acquired defect of immunity which leads to the development of autoimmune processes. There is a misconception about the similarity of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. These are two completely different diseases. The common one is articular syndrome.

The appearance of rheumatoid arthritis is hidden in rheumatism which appears as a consequence of sore throat or flu. It is dangerous because it affects the cardiac valve. There is a risk of heart disease. With proper antibiotic treatment the effect is visible after a few days. When osteoarthritis is detected it all happens much more complicated because there is no exact cause that provokes the appearance of this disease. It is unknown. The development of symptoms occurs longer and more gradually than with rheumatoid arthritis.