In the meantime, these diseases have a completely different nature and different treatment.Knowing these differences means not to give the disease a chance to prevail over you.
Difference 1. Source of the problem
Arthrosis is a degenerative process, accompanied by deformity and abrasion of the joint capsule, which allows the joints to move easily and freely.In addition to the elderly, arthrosis often suffers from athletes who, due to constant overload, cartilage, covering the surface of the joints, cracks, thinning.
Arthritis is an inflammatory disease associated with either failure in the immune system (rheumatoid arthritis) or infection - genuine, intestinal (reactive arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis).
Difference 2. Symptoms
Arthrosis is not always declared with pain that occurs during movement or morning stiffness, which disappears after several movements.The joints affected by arthrosis at first click and crunch, to which potential victims of the disease do not pay attention, continuing to load the worn joint.
Arthritis begins with acute pain, swelling, redness of the skin around the diseased joint, fever.But at the beginning it can appear in a hidden form.The impulse for the development of the disease can give stress, fatigue, hypothermia, infection - cold, cystitis.
Difference 3. The nature of the joint damage
Arthrosis most often affects the joints of the legs (hip joint, knee, ankle), which take into account the maximum load.
With rheumatoid arthritis, brush or leg joints, wrists suffer.Then the joints of the elbow and knee are affected (usually symmetrically), and sometimes the disease affects the internal organs (liver, kidneys).
In reactive arthritis, inflammation of the joints is more often asymmetrical in nature: not both joints suffer, but one.The pain occurs, as in the steps, from foot to foot.
Difference 4. Treatment
Arthrosis, especially in a neglected state, is impossible to finally cure.But with a competent and constant administration of oral drugs 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 because of their negative effect on the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract.
The arthritis of infectious origin is completely cured if treatment is started on time with drugs 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 doses throughout life corticosteroids, anti -inflammatory drugs, cytostatics.But other medicines appear.So, in the mid-1990s, the era of genetic engineering biological drugs began, which allowed to achieve prolonged remission of the disease, as well as to reduce the dose of hormonal agents.