Complaining of pain in the joints, some patients face a diagnosis of "arthrosis", others - "arthritis".When they meet, after exchanging descriptions of their symptoms in a conversation, they suddenly come to the conclusion that there is only one disease, since it manifests itself almost identically in both cases!The question arises: what are the differences between arthritis and osteoarthritis?Many people confuse these diseases, but despite the similarity of symptoms, arthritis and osteoarthritis are different diseases with significant differences in clinical course.Namely, understanding the cause of the disease, the mechanism of its occurrence and development leads to effective therapy.
Gout and osteoarthritis: what they have in common
The occurrence of gout and osteoarthritis can be caused by either a single factor or a combination of numerous causes.Both diseases can develop under the influence of, for example, injury or diabetes.In both cases, patients experience degenerative-dystrophic changes in the articular cartilage, which lead to severe pain and in some cases to limited mobility.The target of diseases is the body's joints and periarticular tissues, especially the knee joint.Patients who sometimes overcome pain take care of themselves, and without effective therapy, all their efforts are in vain.The patient loses his ability to work and instead gets a disability.
According to the accepted ICD-10 classification, arthritis and arthrosis are combined in a subgroup "Arthropathy" - disorders that primarily affect peripheral joints (extremities).
Arthritis and osteoarthritis: differences
Sometimes it is impossible to accurately determine the trigger that started one of these two diseases, but the consequences develop the same: pain and stiffness are felt in the joint, swelling, edema, redness, hyperemia of the skin over the affected area, etc. In reality, only a person without a medical education can confuse these two completely different pathologies, but a doctor can easily distinguish one from the other.
The main difference is that if the direct cause of arthrosis is mechanical damage, excessive or disproportionate loading of the articular apparatus, age-related changes, then arthritis manifests itself as an inflammatory process in the joint and in periarticular tissues.In arthrosis, the blood counts are normal, damage to other organs and systems does not occur.With arthritis, the opposite picture is observed: specific proteins, increased ESR and leukocytes will be detected in the blood.The pathological process involves the heart, kidneys and genitourinary system.
Another difference is that osteoarthritis primarily affects the knee and hip joints, which carry a large supporting stabilizing load.Arthritis favors small joints in the hands, feet, wrist joints and less commonly affects the elbow, knee and hip.
What causes osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is defined by experts as a non-inflammatory joint disease that has a chronic and progressive course.As a result of degenerative-dystrophic changes, articular cartilage is destroyed.Osteoarthritis is often accompanied by inflammation of the synovial membrane of joints or ligaments (synovitis), which also contributes to increasing the destruction of articular structures.
It is precisely because of synovitis that osteoarthritis in the English-language medical literature is called osteoarthritis, using the suffix "-itis" to indicate the presence of an inflammatory process.Although synovitis is not an integral part of osteoarthritis, it may well occur without it.
It is believed that osteoarthritis is the fate of older people.With age, the risk of joint damage increases steadily, but athletes are also at high risk of contracting the disease due to excessive physical exertion or poor technique, such as strength exercises.In addition, the destruction of the articular-ligamentous apparatus can lead to:
- hereditary disposition,
- congenital or acquired pathologies of joint development (dysplasia, detachment of the epiphysis of the bone, joint hypermobility, etc.),
- the presence of metabolic and hormonal disorders such as diabetes mellitus,
- overweight and obesity.
Danish researchers have carried out a study of risk factors for primary osteoarthritis in hip and knee joints.The results revealed that genetic factors and the environment have different effects on major weight-bearing joints.When it comes to the hip joint, the main factors for the development of pathology are genetic (47%) and environmental (22%) components.Meanwhile, for the development of the same pathology in the knee joint, age and gender differences, especially after 50 years, as well as various environmental factors are of utmost importance.
Destruction of cartilage tissue can also develop as a result of inflammatory diseases of bones and joints (arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.).
What is arthritis?
Arthritis is commonly referred to as the full spectrum of inflammatory joint diseases.If the disease affects one joint, it is monoarthritis;more than one is polyarthritis.Arthritis is distinguished as independent diseases and as a manifestation of other pathologies.In the first case, we are talking about rheumatoid, septic arthritis, gout.In the second - about psoriasis and reactive arthritis.The inflammatory process in the joints can also be a consequence of hepatitis, Lyme disease (tick-borne Lyme disease) or granulomatosis.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which a person's immune system mistakenly attacks tissues in their own body.In this case, in addition to inflammatory reactions in other organs, inflammation occurs in the synovial membrane of the joints without the penetration of a microbial pathogen into it.The joint swells, pain occurs and mobility is reduced.
Another form of arthritis is gout, a systemic disease due to improper metabolism.Excess uric acid settles on the articular surface, causing inflammation.Heredity, hormonal factors (men get sick in most cases) and poor nutrition play a major role in the development of the disease.Gout is often confused with osteoarthritis lesions in the big toe area.
The development of some types of arthritis is caused by the penetration of pathogenic microorganisms into the joint space, most often bacteria.