Osteoarthritis is the form of Arthritis | Rheumatoid Arthritis involves inflammation of the joints

Osteoarthritis

Pronunciation: AH-stee-oh-ar-THRY-tis

Osteoarthritis is the form of Arthritis that usually comes with age and most often affects the fingers, knees, and hips. Sometimes Osteoarthritis follows an injury to a joint. For example, a young man might hurt his knee badly playing football. Then, years after the knee has healed, he might get Arthritis in his knee joint.

Osteoarthritis is the progressive breakdown of cartilage, the tissue that protects and cushions joints. It is the most common form of Arthritis, affecting more than 21 million Americans and a major cause of disability in older adults. It is also called "degenerative joint disease" and most often involves the weight-bearing joints.

In Osteoarthritis, the cartilage gradually breaks down until the bones, formerly separated by the cartilage, rub against each other. This causes damage to the bones and underlying tissue, resulting in painful joints. The disorder results from mechanical joint damage -- whether from long-term "wear and tear" or previous injury. Osteoarthritis usually is diagnosed in people older than 40. Nearly everyone over 70 has Osteoarthritis in at least one joint, but not all develop symptoms.

Osteoarthritis most often affects the fingers, hips, knees, or spine. Symptoms include:

Pain, commonly in the hands, hips, or knees but also in the spine. The pain is usually related to activity of the joint and is worse at the end of the day or after periods of activity. As the disease progresses, pain is present even during rest.

• Stiffness (lasting less than 30 minutes) after long periods of inactivity, such as in the morning after a night's sleep.
  
• Limited motion of the joint.
  
• Tenderness and occasional swelling caused by fluid in or around the joint (synovitis).
  
• Enlargement of joints, such as the development of bony knobs on the finger joints.
  
• Grinding sensation with movement (crepitus).
  

The symptoms of Osteoarthritis can usually be successfully managed with medication and home treatment. Although Osteoarthritis most often gets worse, in some cases symptoms may not get worse or may even improve slightly with time.

There are many other types of rheumatic disorders. Not all of them are primarily diagnosed in adults.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis involves inflammation of the joints and results from the body's abnormal attack on the joints, not from overuse of joints. It can affect an individual's entire body and often causes symptoms in addition to joint pain. Rheumatoid Arthritis is most commonly diagnosed in people ages 25 to 50, but can affect people of all ages, including babies.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a common rheumatic disease, affecting more than two million people in the United States. The disease is three times more common in women than in men. It afflicts people of all races equally. The disease can begin at any age, but most often starts after age forty and before sixty. In some families, multiple members can be affected, suggesting a genetic basis for the disorder.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that can cause chronic inflammation of the joints and other areas of the body. Rheumatoid Arthritis can affect persons of all ages. Rheumatoid Arthritis is a chronic disease that is characterized by periods of disease flares and remissions. In RA, multiple joints are usually, but not always, affected in a symmetrical pattern (affecting both sides of the body). The chronic inflammation of RA can cause permanent joint destruction and deformity. The "rheumatoid factor" is an antibody blood test that can be found in 80 percent of patients with RA.

There is no known cure for RA. The treatment of RA optimally involves a combination of patient education, rest and exercise, joint protection, medications, and occasionally, surgery. Currently, doctors feel that the earlier patients with RA receive aggressive treatment, the better their long-term outcome.

Juvenile Arthritis