Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis-Symptoms ,Cause and Treatment

Arthritis is a joint disorder characterized by inflammation. A joint is a connection between two bones which allow the movement of the body parts. You can say that arthritis is the inflammation of the joints, it can be in the one or more joints of the body.Arthritis occurs in all age group of the people.It can occur in the child, adult or old age group.It is more often in women than men.Arthritis can affect the joints, muscles, cartilages, ligament and in many cases, it affects the internal organ of the body. There are many forms of arthritis has been found like -osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lumps etc..The main cause of arthritis are the cartilage tissue damage and autoimmune disorder, in detail, you will know in this articles.Most of the people who suffer from arthritis having Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis.

Cause of Arthritis (Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis)

• Osteoarthritis is generally occurred due to damage to cartilage tissue, it happens due to old age problem, injury, infections or inheritance.
• Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder where body immune itself damage the cartilage tissue.
• Gout arthritis occurs when the uric acid level gets elevated.
• Some time bacteria, virus or fungi enter into the joint and cause inflammation that is called infectious arthritis.Infections occur generally due to Salmonella and Shigella which cause food poisoning.

Risk factors of Arthritis

There are many risk factors for Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis, Gout, Lumps include the following-

• Family History – Most of the arthritis include osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and ankylosing spondylitis have genetic inherent.
• Sex- Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis is more often in women than men whereas Gout is more common in men than women.
• The chance of most of the arthritis increase with increasing age.
• Obesity and overweight are also one of the reason because as the body weight increase it affects the cartilage and leads to the joint problem.
• Injured Joints are more likely to develop Osteoarthritis.
• There is also a good chance of arthritis due to infection.Through infection bacteria and virus enter into the joint which causes inflammation.
• Repetitive movement due to occupation there are certain changes cause Osteoarthritis.

Sign and Symptoms of Arthritis –

There are following sign and symptoms of arthritis –

• Pain in the joint of the body.
• Stiffness in the body joint majorly in the morning or after wakeup.
• Swelling at the site of pain.
• Redness at the site of pain.
• Ranges of motion decreases.
• In some cases of Rheumatoid arthritis, people experience loss of appetite, fatigue, dry mouth or eyes and anemic due to decreases amount of red blood cells.

Types of Arthritis – 

There are more than 200 types of arthritis found, some of are as follows-

• Osteoarthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Gout
• Ankylosing Spondylitis
• Lumps
• Systemic sclerosis
• Septic arthritis and Many more.

Know About Rheumatoid Arthritis  –

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder, it occurs when body immune systems attack the tissue of the body especially at joints leads to joint inflammation, pain, and degeneration of joint tissue.

Rheumatoid arthritis occurs at any age and it is characterized by stiffness at morning, fatigues, anemic if it is not treated well on time, it can be one of the reasons for disability which hampers the quality of life.

Know About Osteoarthritis –

Osteoarthritis is a common degenerative joint disorder.It affects the cartilage tissue, ligament, and bones. The break down of this tissue leads to pain and inflammations.Cartilage tissue of joint absorbs the shock and pressure created by jump, walking and running. It allows the smooth movement.Continuously and regular inflammation in the synovia leads to degeneration of cartilage and bone.Due to it swelling, pain and redness occur.

In Osteoarthritis mostly affected joints are – Hip, knees, hand and spine joints means larger joints of the body.

Difference Between Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis –

Although I have shared some of the common characteristics of arthritis both Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis are different in many ways.These are as follows –

• Osteoarthritis Arthritis occurs in older age people, this is the results of years of wear and tear of cartilage tissue of the body.Rheumatoid arthritis can occur at any age as it is an autoimmune disorder.
• People who suffer from Rheumatoid arthritis has the major chance of deformities when it is not treated well on time but it is occasionally with Osteoarthritis.
• Osteoarthritis generally occurs in larger joints like – Knees, Hips, Shoulder, Spine etc whereas Ra occurs in smaller joints of the body.
• OA usually occurs in the joint whereas Rheumatoid arthritis patients may feel low-grade fever, fatigue, muscles pain, dryness of mouth and eyes apart from the joint pain.
• It occurs because of wear and tear of cartilage tissue due to older age, injury, obesity but rheumatoid arthritis mainly occurs due to the autoimmune disorder where body immune attacks on the joint.
• 20% to 30% of Rheumatoid arthritis patients have nodules under the skin.These nodules vary in size and painful but it is generally not found in Osteoarthritis.

Treatment of Arthritis –

The main aim of the treatment of arthritis is to control the pain, minimize the joint damage and improve the quality of life.

Treatment of arthritis include medication and lifestyle management can help to improve the quality of life –

Medication for the Arthritis –

Medication depends on the type arthritis.The common medicine which is being used is as follows –

• Analgesic – It is used to reduce the pain but it has no effects on inflammations.Analgesics include – Acetaminophen, Tramadol, Etoricoxib etc.
• Non-Steroid-Antiinflammatory Drugs (NSAID)- NSAID reduces both pain and inflammation.NSAID includes – Ibuprofen, naproxen sodium.
• Diseases modifying antirheumatic Drugs – It is used to slow or stop the autoimmune attack to the joints and provide the relief.It includes- Methotrexate, Hydroxychloroquine.
• Biologics – It is genetically engineered drugs that act on various protein molecule involved in immune response.

Life Style Management in Arthritis –

Lifestyle management and dietary management along with medication provide good relief to the arthritis patients-

• Always try to be physically active.
• Reduce Obesity or overweight.
• Do warm water therapy.
• Include ginger, black pepper or green tea in your morning tea.
• Reduce alcohol or smoking.
• Avoid Stress
• Get Enough Sleep
• Include fish, vegetables, and fruits, whole grain, nuts and seeds in your diet which is helpful to inflammation.

Foods to Avoid in Arthritis –

There are some people who wanted to avoid certain foods as it increases the inflammation –

• Nightshade vegetables like -Tomatoes
• Avoid Alcohol and smoking.
• Try to avoid cold water as warm water therapy is advisable.

I hope after reading this articles you become aware of arthritis (Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis) symptoms, cause and treatment.If anyone who is feeling these symptoms, they need to speak to your consultant to get treated well on time.

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