Complaining of joint pain, some patients face the diagnosis of "arthrosis", others "arthritis".When they meet, exchange their symptoms during a conversation, they suddenly come to the conclusion that it is a single disease, since it manifests itself almost identically in both cases!The question arises: what is the difference between arthritis and arthrosis?In fact, many people confuse these diseases, but despite the similarity of symptoms, arthritis and arthrosis are different diseases with significant differences in their clinical course.Because understanding the cause, occurrence and mechanism of development of the disease leads to effective therapy.
Arthritis and arthrosis: what do they have in common
The occurrence of arthritis and arthrosis can be caused by a single factor or a combination of several reasons.Both diseases can develop, for example, as a result of injury or diabetes.In both cases, patients experience degenerative-dystrophic changes in the articular cartilage that lead to severe pain and, in some cases, limited movement.The targets of the diseases are the joints and periarticular tissues of the body, especially the knee joint.Patients, sometimes overcoming pain, take care of themselves, and without effective therapy, all their efforts will fail.The patient loses his ability to work and instead becomes disabled.
According to the accepted ICD-10 classification, arthritis and arthrosis are combined into a subgroup, "Arthropathy" - diseases that primarily affect the peripheral joints (extremities).
Arthritis and arthrosis: differences
Sometimes it is impossible to determine exactly the root cause that provoked one of these two diseases, but the consequences are the same: pain and stiffness are felt in the joint, swelling, edema, redness, skin hyperemia in the affected area, etc.In fact, only a person without a medical education can confuse these two completely different pathologies, but a doctor can easily separate one from the other.
The main difference is that if the direct cause of arthrosis is a mechanical injury, excessive or disproportionate load on the joint apparatus, age-related changes, then arthritis manifests itself as an inflammatory process in the joint and periarticular tissues.In the case of arthrosis, the blood count is normal, damage to other organs and systems does not occur.The opposite picture is observed with arthritis: specific proteins, increased ESR and leukocytes appear in the blood.The pathological process affects the heart, kidneys and urinary system.
Another difference is that arthrosis primarily affects the knee and hip joints, which carry a large supporting and stabilizing load.Arthritis favors the small joints of the hands, feet, and wrists, less often affects the elbows, knees, and hips.
What causes arthrosis?
Experts define arthrosis as a non-inflammatory joint disease with a chronic and progressive course.As a result of the degenerative-dystrophic changes, the joint cartilages are destroyed.Arthrosis is often accompanied by inflammation of the synovial membrane of the joints or ligaments (synovitis), which also contributes to the increase in the destruction of joint structures.
In English-language medical literature, osteoarthritis is called osteoarthritis precisely because of synovitis, with the suffix "-itis" referring to the presence of an inflammatory process.Although synovitis is not an integral part of arthrosis, it can also occur without it.
It is believed that arthrosis is a large part of the elderly.In fact, the risk of joint damage increases with age, but athletes are also at high risk of developing the disease due to excessive physical exertion or poor technique, such as strength exercises.In addition, the destruction of the articular-ligamentous apparatus can lead to:
- hereditary tendency
- congenital or acquired pathologies of joint development (dysplasia, detachment of the bone epiphysis, joint hypermobility, etc.),
- the presence of metabolic and hormonal disorders, such as diabetes,
- overweight and obesity.
Danish scientists conducted a study on the risk factors of primary osteoarthritis of the hip and knee joints.The results showed that genetic factors and the environment have different effects on heavy weight-bearing joints.When it comes to the hip joint, the most significant factors in the development of pathology are genetic (47%) and environmental (22%) components.Meanwhile, in 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 the greatest importance.
Cartilage tissue destruction can also occur as a result of bone and joint inflammatory diseases (gout, rheumatic arthritis, etc.).
What is arthritis?
Arthritis is commonly referred to as the full spectrum of inflammatory joint diseases.If the disease affects one joint, it is monoarthritis;more than one 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, and gout.In the second - about psoriatic and reactive arthritis.The inflammatory process of the joints can also be the result of hepatitis, Lyme disease (borreliosis spread by ticks) or granulomatosis.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which a person's immune system mistakenly attacks the tissues in their own body.In this case, in addition to the inflammatory reactions of other organs, inflammation of the synovial membrane of the joints also occurs without the penetration of a microbial pathogen.The joint swells, pain occurs, and mobility decreases.
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 improper nutrition are of great importance in the development of the disease.Gout is often confused with arthrosis changes in the area of the big toe.
The development of certain types of arthritis is provoked by the penetration of pathogenic microorganisms, most often bacteria, into the joint space.