The key difference between arthritis and osteoarthritis is that arthritis is a broad term that describes 100 different joint swelling and inflammation conditions caused due to genetics, build-up of too much uric acid, repeated stress on the joints, autoimmune conditions, or viral infections, while osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis caused mainly due to repeated stress on the joints.
Arthritis affects the joints and leads to joint swelling, pain, and inflammation. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Arthritis
3. What is Osteoarthritis
4. Similarities – Arthritis and Osteoarthritis
5. Arthritis vs Osteoarthritis in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Arthritis vs Osteoarthritis
What is Arthritis?
Arthritis affects the joints in the body. It leads to joint swelling and inflammation, making moving or staying active throughout life difficult. Arthritis commonly affects areas of the body, including feet, hands, hips, knees, and lower back. In the United States, arthritis affects about 50 million adults and 300,000 children. There are different types of arthritis conditions, including osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, gout, psoriatic arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Different types of arthritis have different causes, such as too much uric acid in the body, family history, repeated stress on the joints due to sports, certain autoimmune diseases, or viral infections. The risk factors for arthritis may include age (older adults), lifestyle (smoking or lack of exercise), sex (women affected more), and weight (obese people are affected more). The common symptoms of arthritis include pain, redness, stiffness, swelling, tenderness, and warmth.
Figure 01: Rheumatoid Arthritis
Arthritis can be diagnosed through physical examination, X-ray, MRI, ultrasound, and blood test. Furthermore, the treatment options for arthritis may include medications (anti-inflammatory and pain medications), physical therapy, therapeutic injections (corticosteroid medications), and surgeries (fusion and joint replacement).
What is Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, which is caused mainly due to repeated stress on the joints. This condition commonly affects the hips, knees, fingers, and feet. The symptoms of osteoarthritis include pain or aching in a joint during activity, joint stiffness, limited range of motion, clocking or popping sound when joints bend, swelling around the joint, muscle weakness around joints, and joint instability or buckling.
Figure 02: Osteoarthritis
The risk factors for osteoarthritis include age (appear in people over 50), joint injury, overuse, obesity, musculoskeletal abnormalities, weak muscles, genetics, gender (women affected more), and environment (occupation, diet, level of physical activity, etc.) Moreover, osteoarthritis can be diagnosed through physical examination, joint aspiration, X-ray, and MRI. Furthermore, treatment options for osteoarthritis include medications like pain and anti-inflammatory medicines (analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, counterirritants, corticosteroids, platelet-rich plasma (PRP)) and other drugs (antidepressants and anti-seizure drugs) and non-drug therapies (exercises, weight loss, physical therapy, assistive devices, and joint replacement therapy).
What are the Similarities Between Arthritis and Osteoarthritis?
- Arthritis and osteoarthritis are two related terms
- Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis.
- Both conditions may have similar risk factors such as age (older people affected more), sex (women affected more), obesity, etc.
- They may have similar symptoms, such as joint pain, swelling, etc.
- Both conditions can be diagnosed through physical examination and imaging tests.
- They are treated through medications, physical therapy, and surgeries.
What is the Difference Between Arthritis and Osteoarthritis?
Arthritis is a broad term that describes 100 different joint swelling and inflammation conditions that are caused due to genetics, too much uric acid build up, repeated stress on the joints, autoimmune conditions, or viral infections, while osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, which is caused mainly due to the repeated stress on the joints. This is the key difference between arthritis and osteoarthritis. Furthermore, arthritis affects areas of the body which include feet, hands, hips, knees, and lower back, while osteoarthritis affects areas of the body which include hips, knees, fingers, and feet.
The following table summarizes the difference between arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Summary – Arthritis vs Osteoarthritis
Arthritis is a broad term for 100 different joint swelling and inflammation conditions. Arthritis and osteoarthritis are two related terms. This is because osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. Both these conditions may have similar risk factors such as age (older people affected more), sex (women affected more), obesity, etc. However, arthritis is caused due to different factors like genetics, too much uric acid build up, repeated stress on the joints, autoimmune conditions, or viral infections. On the other hand, osteoarthritis is caused mainly due to repeated stress on the joints. So, this summarizes the difference between arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Reference:
1. “Osteoarthritis: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment.” Arthritis Foundation.
2. “Arthritis: Symptoms, Causes, Types & Treatment.” Cleveland Clinic.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Rheumatoid arthritis — Smart-Servier (cropped)” By Laboratoires Servier – Smart Servier website (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Osteoarthritis” By BruceBlaus – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia