Arthritis or arthritis?Why is it important to recognize their differences

Common pain in the elderlyIn the meantime, these diseases have a completely different nature and different treatment.Knowing these changes means not giving a disease a chance to dominate you.

Difference 1. The source of the problem

Arthrosis is a degenerative process, accompanied by deformation and corrosion of the joint capsule, which allows the joints to move easily and freely.In addition to the elderly, arthritis often suffers from athletes who, due to constant overload, cartilage, cover the surface of the joints, cracks, thinning.

Arthritis is an inflammatory disease associated with either a failure in the immune system (rheumatoid arthritis), or with an infection - genitourinary, intestine (reactive arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis).

Difference 2. Symptoms

Arthrosis does not always declare itself with pain that occurs during the movement or stiffness of the morning, which disappears after some movements.Arthrosis affected links to the first click and crisis, to which possible victims of the disease pay no attention, continuing to load the worn joint.

Arthritis begins with sharp pain, swelling, redness of the skin around the diseased joint, fever.But at first it can occur in a hidden form.Promoting the development of the disease can give stress, excessive work, hypothermia, an infection - a cold, cystitis.

Difference 3. The nature of common damage

Arthrosis most often affects the ankle joints (hip, knee, ankle), which make up the maximum load.

With rheumatoid arthritis, knots of a brush or foot, the joints suffer.Then the elbow and knee joints are affected (usually symmetrically), and sometimes the disease affects the internal organs (liver, kidneys).

With reactive arthritis, inflammation of the joints is most often asymmetric in nature: not both joints suffer, but one.The pain goes, as in the steps, from the foot to the foot.

Difference 4. Treatment

Arthrosis, especially in a neglected state, is impossible to finally be cured.But with a competent and constant consumption of oral medicines that stimulate cartilage regeneration, it is possible to significantly slow down its development and improve the quality of life of the patient.Anti-inflammatory drugs with arthrosis play an auxiliary role due to their negative effect on the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract.

Arthritis of infectious origin is fully cured if treatment begins in time with medicines that affect immunity, antibiotics.In particularly severe, advanced cases, the course of treatment is repeated several times.

It will be necessary to treat rheumatoid arthritis for eternal doses of corticosteroids, anti -inflammatory drugs, cytostatics.But other medicines appear.So, in the mid -1990s, the era of biological genetic engineering drugs began, which allow to achieve prolonged forgiveness of the disease as well as reduce the dose of hormonal agents.