Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is recognized as the most disabling type of arthritis. While they both fall under the "arthritis" umbrella and share certain similarities, these diseases have significant differences.
Osteoarthritis (OA) can be crippling if untreated as it disintegrates the cartilage that supports the joints of the spine, knees, hands, and spine.
OA usually affects fewer joints, and its symptoms are generally limited to the joints. The progression of RA is more difficult to predict, and it can cause more widespread symptoms. The outlook for people with RA has greatly improved due to advances in research and therapies.
Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease, which means that your immune system attacks healthy cells in your body by mistake, causing inflammation (painful swelling) in the affected parts of the body. RA mainly attacks the joints, usually many joints at once.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is recognized as the most disabling type of arthritis.
Inflammatory arthritis is often referred to as being systemic because it can affect the whole body. The most common forms of inflammatory arthritis are: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis. Inflammatory arthritis also affects children.
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease that worsens over time, often resulting in chronic pain. Joint pain and stiffness can become severe enough to make daily tasks difficult. Depression and sleep disturbances can result from the pain and disability of osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis. Some people call it degenerative joint disease or “wear and tear” arthritis.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. Some people call it “wear and tear” arthritis. It occurs most frequently in the hands, hips, and knees.
The joint pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis is usually a throbbing and aching pain. It is often worse in the mornings and after a period of inactivity.
Use imaging tests like X-rays.
These can often tell what kind of arthritis you have. X-rays are used to diagnose osteoarthritis, often showing a loss of cartilage, bone spurs, and in severe cases, bone rubbing against bone.
Sadly for some Osteoarthritis can lead to need to using a wheelchair. The pain while often manageable with drugs can combine with joint stiffness and loss of dexterity to require the use of a wheelchair to help alleviate the conditions.
Any joint in the body may be affected by the disease, but it is particularly common in the knee. Knee arthritis can make it hard to do many everyday activities, such as walking or climbing stairs. It is a major cause of lost work time and a serious disability for many people.
End-stage arthritis is the progressive wearing down of the cartilage that is present between the bones of a joint causing the bones to come in contact with each other and painfully rub against each other during movement of the joint. This results in severe pain with loss of movement and function.
Age-related demographics. Primary osteoarthritis is a common disorder of the elderly, and patients may present asymptomatic. Approximately 80-90% of individuals older than 65 years have evidence of radiographic primary osteoarthritis. Symptoms typically do not become noticeable until after the age of 50 years.
Heat and cold. Use of heat, such as applying heating pads to aching joints, taking hot baths or showers, or immersing painful joints in warm paraffin wax, can help relieve pain temporarily. Be careful not to burn yourself. Use heating pads for no more than 20 minutes at a time.
Stage 4 – Severe
This is the most severe stage of OA, which means it is also the most painful. At this point, the cartilage is almost completely gone, leading to an inflammatory response from the joint. The bone spurs that developed in the earlier stages have now multiplied, often causing excruciating pain.
The end stage of RA means that most of the tissue that was formerly inflamed has been destroyed, and bone erosion has occurred. The affected joints stop functioning and patients experience pain and severe loss of mobility.
RA is symmetrical, where a patient feels symptoms in the same spot on both sides of the body, often in the joints in the feet and hands. Osteoarthritis, in contrast, begins in an isolated joint, often in the knee, fingers, hands, spine and hips. While both sides may hurt, one side is more painful.
Most forms of arthritis are thought to be caused by a fault in the immune system that causes the body to attack its own tissues in the joints. This may be inherited genetically. Other forms of arthritis can be caused by problems with the immune system or by a metabolic condition, such as gout.
In the study, the median survival rate for healthy adults was approximately 82 years while the median survival rate for people with RA was approximately 77 years.