Complaining of joint pain, some patients face the diagnosis of "arthritis", others - "arthritis".When they meet, having exchanged 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!It begs the question: what, then, are the differences between arthritis and arthritis?Indeed, many people confuse these diseases, but despite the similarity of symptoms, arthritis and arthritis are different diseases with significant differences in the clinical course.That is, understanding the cause of the disease, the mechanism of its occurrence and development leads to effective treatment.
Arthritis and arthritis: what they have in common
The onset of arthritis and arthritis can be caused by either a single factor or a combination of several 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, limited mobility.The target of the diseases are the joints and peri-articular tissues of the body, especially the knee joint.Patients, sometimes overcoming pain, take care of themselves, and without effective treatment, all their efforts fall into vain.The patient loses his ability to work and instead becomes disabled.
According to the accepted ICD-10 classification, arthritis and arthritis are combined in a subgroup "Arthropathy" - disorders that mainly affect the peripheral joints (extremities).
Arthritis and arthritis: 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 in the affected area, etc.
The main difference is that if the direct cause of arthrosis is mechanical damage, excessive or disproportionate load on the articular apparatus, age-related changes, then arthritis manifests itself as an inflammatory process in the joint and peri-articular tissues.With arthropathy, 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 arthropathy mainly affects the knee and hip joints, which carry a large supporting stabilizing load.Arthritis favors the small joints of the hands, feet, wrist joint and less often affects the elbow, knee and hip.
What causes arthritis?
Arthropathy is defined by experts as a non-inflammatory joint disease that has a chronic and progressive course.As a result of degenerative-dystrophic changes, the articular cartilage is destroyed.Arthritis is often accompanied by inflammation of the synovial membrane of joints or ligaments (arthritis), which also contributes by increasing the destruction of joint structures.
It is precisely because of arthritis that in the English-language medical literature osteoarthritis is called osteoarthritis, using the suffix "-itis" as an indication of the presence of an inflammatory process.Although arthritis is not an integral part of arthropathy, it can occur without it.
It is believed that arthritis is the lot of the elderly.Indeed, with age, the risk of joint damage steadily increases, 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-connective apparatus can lead to:
- hereditary predisposition,
- congenital or acquired joint development pathologies (dysplasia, detachment of the bone epiphysis, joint hypermobility, etc.),
- the presence of metabolic and hormonal disorders such as diabetes mellitus,
- overweight and obesity.
Danish scientists conducted a study of risk factors for primary osteoarthritis of the hip and knee joints.The results revealed that genetic factors and the environment have different effects on large weight-bearing joints.Regarding the hip joint, the most important 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 great importance.
The destruction of cartilage tissue can also develop as a result of inflammatory diseases of bones and joints (gout, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.).
What is arthritis?
Arthritis is commonly referred to as the entire 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 - for psoriatic and reactive arthritis.The inflammatory process in the joints can also be a consequence of hepatitis, Lyme disease (tick-borne borreliosis) or granulomatosis.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease where a person's immune system mistakenly attacks their own body tissue.In this case, in addition to inflammatory reactions in other organs, inflammation of the synovial membrane of the joints occurs 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 caused by improper metabolism.Excess uric acid settles on the joint surface, causing inflammation.Heredity, hormonal factors (men get sick in most cases) and poor nutrition are of great importance in the development of the disease.Gout is often confused with arthropathy lesions in the area of the big toe.
The development of certain types of arthritis is caused by the penetration of pathogenic microorganisms into the joint space, most often bacteria.