Some of the patients who complain of joint pain are diagnosed with "arthrosis" and others with "arthritis".When they meet, exchanging descriptions of their symptoms in a conversation, they suddenly come to the conclusion that there is only one disease, because it manifests itself in almost the same way in both cases!The question arises: what is the difference between arthritis and arthrosis?Indeed, many people confuse these diseases, but despite the similarity of symptoms, arthritis and arthrosis are different diseases with significant differences in the clinical course.Namely, understanding the cause of the disease, the mechanism of its occurrence and development leads to effective therapy.
Arthritis and arthrosis: what they have in common
Arthritis and arthrosis can be caused by a single factor or a combination of multiple reasons.Both diseases can develop under the influence of, for example, injury or diabetes.In both cases, patients have degenerative-dystrophic changes in the articular cartilage, which causes severe pain and, in some cases, limitation of mobility.The target of diseases is the joints and periarticular tissues of the body, especially the knee joint.Patients take care of themselves, sometimes by relieving pain, and without effective therapy, all their efforts are wasted.The patient loses his ability to work and gets a disability instead.
According to the accepted ICD-10 classification, arthritis and arthrosis are combined into a subgroup "Arthropathy" - disorders that primarily affect peripheral joints (limbs).
Arthritis and arthrosis: differences
Sometimes it is not possible to accurately determine the trigger that started one of these two diseases, but the results develop in the same way: pain and stiffness are felt in the joint, swelling, edema, redness, hyperemia of the skin in the affected area, etc. In fact, only a person without medical training can confuse these two completely different pathologies, but a doctor can easily distinguish one from the other.
The main difference is that if the direct cause of arthrosis is mechanical damage, excessive or disproportionate loading of the joint apparatus, age-related changes, then arthritis manifests itself as an inflammatory process in the joint and periarticular tissues.With arthrosis, the blood count is normal, it does not damage other organs and systems.With arthritis, the opposite picture is observed: special 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 arthrosis primarily affects the knee and hip joints, which carry a large supporting stabilizing load.Arthritis favors the small joints of the hands, feet, wrists, and less often affects the elbows, knees, and hips.
What is the cause of arthrosis?
Arthrosis is defined by experts as a non-inflammatory joint disease with a chronic and progressive course.As a result of degenerative-dystrophic changes, articular cartilage is destroyed.Arthrosis is often accompanied by inflammation of the synovial membrane of joints or ligaments (synovitis), which contributes to the destruction of articular structures.
It is because of synovitis that osteoarthritis is called osteoarthritis in the English-language medical literature, and the suffix "-itis" is used to indicate the presence of an inflammatory process.Although synovitis is not a component of arthrosis, it can occur without it.
It is believed that arthrosis is more common in older people.Indeed, the risk of joint damage increases steadily with age, but athletes are also at high risk of developing the disease due to excessive physical exertion or poor technique, such as strength training.In addition, the destruction of the articular-ligamentous apparatus can lead to:
- hereditary predisposition
- Congenital or acquired pathologies of joint development (dysplasia, separation of bone epiphysis, hypermobility of joints, etc.),
- the presence of metabolic and hormonal disorders such as diabetes mellitus,
- overweight and obesity.
Danish scientists conducted a study on risk factors for primary osteoarthritis of the hip and knee joints.The results revealed that genetic factors and the environment have different effects on joints that bear large weight.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, especially after the age of 50, age and gender differences, as well as various environmental factors, are of great importance.
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 whole spectrum of inflammatory joint diseases.If the disease affects one joint, it is monoarthritis;more than one is polyarthritis.Arthritis differs 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 - about psoriatic and reactive arthritis.The inflammatory process in the joints can also be the result of hepatitis, Lyme disease (tick-borne borreliosis) or granulomatosis.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which a person's immune system mistakenly attacks tissues in their own body.In this case, in addition to inflammatory reactions in other organs, inflammation of the synovial membrane of the joints occurs without penetration of the microbial pathogen into it.The joint swells, pain appears, mobility is impaired.
Another form of arthritis is gout, a systemic disease due to improper metabolism.Excess uric acid settles on the articular surface and causes inflammation.Heredity, hormonal factors (in most cases men get sick), bad nutrition are of great importance for the development of the disease.Gout is often confused with arthrosis lesions in the area of the thumb.
The development of some types of arthritis is provoked by the penetration of pathogenic microorganisms into the joint space, in most cases bacteria.