Many people don't always understand the difference between arthritis and osteoarthritis due to the similarity of names.Both diseases are associated with joints, but the causes, symptoms, diagnosis and therefore treatment are fundamentally different.It is very important to determine the type of disease in the initial stages in order to begin proper treatment.
Arthritis, arthrosis and their effects on the joints
To begin proper treatment of a joint, you must first determine what type of disease it is prone to.And for this you need to understand for yourself what the difference is between arthritis and arthrosis.
Both diseases affect the joints, but have different symptoms and causes.
What is osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis sooner or later affects about 10% of the population and most often manifests itself with increasing age.Osteoarthritis is deformation of the joints and reduced mobility.The correct name should be called osteoarthritis.
The main symptoms are pain with movement and loss of mobility, mobility in the affected joint decreases and an unpleasant, dry and sharp crunch occurs when moving.Deformations can also be observed in osteoarthritis.For example, a change in the shape of the knee joint is very easy to detect.
Osteoarthritis can be detected in its early stages.The diagnosis is only complicated by the careless attitude towards health of the patients themselves.Pain in the initial stages occurs only with exertion, so many do not attach importance to it, which aggravates the disease and complicates treatment.
Arthritis and its symptoms
While osteoarthritis is exclusively a disease of the joints, arthritis is often contagious and affects the entire body.Such diseases are one of the manifestations of the general condition of the body.It is much more difficult to treat and diagnose.Joint pain is accompanied by swelling and inflammation;The pain does not go away, it just increases, much faster than with osteoarthritis.Infectious arthritis affects not only the cartilage tissue, but also the heart, kidneys and liver.Although arthritis occurs about five times less often than osteoarthritis, their treatment is significantly more difficult, they pose a great danger to the patient's life and their causes can be varied.
The main symptoms of arthritis are:
- high temperature;
- skin inflammation, psoriasis;
- general weakness of the body;
- discomfort in the eyes;
- discharge from genitals;
- Chills, increased sweating.
The skin around the joints in particular is hot and swollen.
How does arthritis differ from osteoarthritis by the type of disease?
To better understand the causes of such diseases, one must understand their nature and classify them.
All joint diseases can be divided into two groups – inflammatory processes and dystrophic.
To determine the nature of a disease whose symptoms are similar to each other, it is important to diagnose and determine the cause of a particular process in the body.
The main problem in both diseases is the imbalance in the joints between destruction and repair processes.The greater the imbalance, the faster the bone tissue is destroyed, which manifests itself at the cellular level in a lack of oxygen and nutrients, as well as poor production of healthy components of bone tissue.
Most often the process goes unnoticed and when the number of dead cells exceeds the norm, pain occurs.So the body tries to “complain” about excessive stress and asks for help.
Dystrophic diseases
Most often, such diseases have characteristic names with the same endings: arthrosis, osteochondrosis, ligamentosis, osteoarthrosis.Such diseases appear with age or with constant physical activity.Football players, for example, often suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee joint at a young age.Most athletes are susceptible to knee joint diseases.
Due to the thinning of cartilage tissue, known as degeneration, joints show painful symptoms.Such diseases arise due to the general aging of the body, a sedentary lifestyle and the infectious nature of diseases, which can be accompanied by the development of arthrosis, osteochondrosis and similar diseases, which only accelerates the degeneration process.The body does not have time to replace dead cells, that is, to regenerate, and the reverse process occurs.The most difficult thing to stop is widespread tissue degeneration of the knee joint.
Inflammatory diseases
Such diseases also have similar endings and often end in -it.Bacteria or viruses are often contagious in nature and can cause inflammation of one or more joints, leading to the corresponding symptoms:
- increased temperature;
- Swelling;
- Sweat
They can also be autoimmune or allergic-infectious in nature, when the body fights its own cells.In this case, pain and swelling in the knee joint may indicate serious immune system problems.If you experience pain in the knee or any other joint, you should immediately consult a doctor for a complete diagnosis of the body.
The cause of joint pain can often be salt deposits in the cavities and periarticular tissue.In this case, there is a possibility of metabolic disorders.
Osteoarthritis and arthritis – treatment
Since the causes of the diseases are completely different (in osteoarthritis the joint wears out mechanically and arthritis is contagious), the treatment will be completely different.That's why it's so important to separate these two diseases.
Let's consider the treatment using the example of the knee joint.In both cases it is necessary to reduce the load as much as possible.Osteoarthritis of the knee joint or any other joint cannot be cured because the process is irreversible.However, regular use of chondroprotectors can slow down the process, stimulate cartilage regeneration and relieve pain in the knee joint.
Infectious arthritis can be treated with antibiotics and medications that affect the immune system.In some cases, treatment needs to be repeated, but the disease itself is completely curable.
If rheumatoid arthritis is diagnosed, it must be treated with low doses of cytostatic drugs and corticosteroids over a very long period of time.All of this is used in combination with anti-inflammatory drugs.Modern treatments make it possible to achieve long-term remission and reduce the use of hormonal drugs to a minimum.