Difference Between Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis – 5 Easy Tips That You Can Use Today!

What is the difference between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis? What are their special precautions and natural treatments? Find out the expert answers in this article.

Both these forms of arthritis have got some similarities as well as differences. Their exact causes are not known. While osteoarthritis often accompanies aging, rheumatoid arthritis can occur in any age group and is also found in children and adults.

Osteoarthritis can be commonly found in people around the age group of 60. The intensity of pain and degree of the problem varies according to their lifestyle. Rheumatoid arthritis might develop at any age, although during remission period, there might be a complete lack of symptoms of pain.

Broadly speaking, these are the major signs of difference between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis -

1) Pain is a common characteristic in both forms of arthritis.

It is also one of the major distinguishing factors which doctors use for diagnosis and to identify the difference them.

In osteoarthritis, the pain might occur in only one joint, for example in the right knee. On the other hand, in rheumatoid arthritis the pain is generally found occurring on the joints on both sides of the body. For example, there might be pain in both knees.

2) “Wear and tear” of the cartilage cushions is the primary reason for osteoarthritis. The cartilage cushions act as shock absorbers that prevent the bones of the joint from rubbing together. When this cartilage is damaged due to overuse or injury, it causes osteoarthritis and leads to inflammation and swelling in the joints.

In rheumatoid arthritis, the pain and inflammation in the joints take place well before any damage occurs in the cartilage cushions. In fact, frequent occurrence of chronic inflammation causes damage to the cartilage and intense pain.

3) Factors that might lead to the occurrence of osteoarthritis are – obesity, joint injury, overuse of joints and heredity. On the other hand, obesity might aggravate the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, but it does not play any role in developing of that condition in the first place.

4) One of the major difference between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis is that osteoarthritis affects only the joints, while rheumatoid arthritis can also affect many other parts in the body.

5) What is the difference between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis in terms of treatment? In rheumatoid arthritis, drugs that suppress immune system activity are often prescribed; whereas they are not required in osteoarthritis. However, anti-inflammatory drugs are common mode of treatment in both forms of arthritis.

Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in the diet by using fish oil supplements is one of the best, most effective and natural ways of treating the symptoms of both forms of arthritis.

They are also free of the potential side effects that most of the description based anti-inflammatory drugs suffer from. On the contrary, they provide a lot of health benefits such as improvement in brain health, cardiovascular health, digestive system, memory and concentration, skin health, joints and much more.

Green lipped mussel found in New Zealand is also another excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids. It plays an effective role in reducing pain and joint stiffness, increasing grip strength and enhancing mobility in people suffering from osteoarthritis. It has excellent anti-inflammatory properties and is used in combination with fish oil supplements to provide effective long-term relief in arthritis symptoms.

However, if you are using blood thinner medications such as aspirin on medical prescription, then you should consult your doctor before including omega-3 supplements or fish oil supplements for arthritis relief as they are natural blood thinners. This is to ensure that you do not take too many blood thinners as it could lead to potential side effects.

Related Osteoarthritis Arthritis Articles

Q&A: How do I tell the difference between my parkinsons and spinal stenosis? Some symptoms are the same.?

Question by : How do I tell the difference between my parkinsons and spinal stenosis? Some symptoms are the same.?
Some symptoms of parkinson’s and spinal steno sis are the same and I suppose can overlap. What I need to know is how do I tell the difference. I am scheduled for DBS, deep brain stimulation, surgery in a few weeks and would like to know so I know more of what to expect. I also have osteoarthritis and cervical arthritis. I get extreme weakness in my legs, sometimes to where I am unable to stand. Can you help me?

Best answer:

Answer by Mags
How has your spinal stenosis been diagnosed? Cervical? Lumbar? Becaue you are right, there is a commonality of symptoms.

Because Parkinson’s disease is a collection of syndromes, not all patients manifest the same symptoms nor the same disease progression as more symptoms may appear or the current symptoms worsen rapidly.

You say that you have weakness in your legs. Parkinson’s usually begins unilaterally for some time before the loss of additional dopamine causes it to become bilateral. Have you always had weakness in both legs or is that progression?

In a woman especially, neck and shoulder pain can be common to both conditions.

Bladder control is not usually an early symptom of PD but it can be just as it can progress in spinal stenosis.

I would assume that you are seeing a neurologist specializing in motion disorders who has observed you, taken your symptom history, had various tests performed to rule out other conditions.

Although the two conditions are not related, spinal stenosis is related to osteoarthritis and cervical arthritis which you do have.

Although both condidtions are more commonly seen in people over 50 years of age, Parkinson’s disease can begin much earlier and often does.

Both conditions are associated with pain. In PD the pain is often around joints and the shoulder/neck area – In spinal stenosis the pain may be in the lower back and radiate to thighs, Pain relievers rarely help.

Here’s the important thing about a differential diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease vs Spinal Stenosis, an X-ray and MRI can be used to diagnose Spinal Stenosis but not PD. CAT scans and Myelograms can also be used to detect elements of Spinal Stenosis but are not used in PD because there are no current lab tests in use for Parkinson’s.

http://www.spineuniverse.com/conditions/spinal-stenosis/spinal-stenosis-description-diagnosis

The list of motion and non-movement symptoms is much longer for Parkinson’s disease but again some patients do not demonstrate all of them nor do the manifest all of the four primary PD Symptoms: TRAP
Tremor
Rigidity or stiffening
Akinesia or bradykinesia – slowness of mvement and thought process
Postural Instability

The list includes but is not limited to urinary and sleep issues, depression, anxiety and apathy, personality and mood changes, constipation, ED, vision problem, cognitive issues, loss of arm swing, leg drag, loss of sense of smell, dentition problems, swallowing issues, speech changes, handwriting changes, pain.
.
The DBS has been scheduled to help with motor issues and I suspect with pain. You may find that the proper adjustments which usually begin about 2 weeks after surgery may take some time. You will, as you know be working with a psecialist. I suggest putting problems into writing before each appointment.

Best wishes

What do you think? Answer below!

Is there any link between psoriatic arthritis and miscarriage? I have had 2.?

Question by Liza M: Is there any link between psoriatic arthritis and miscarriage? I have had 2.?
My gynecologist says yes, and my rhumatologist says no. Both miscarriages occurred at 9 weeks of pregnancy.

Best answer:

Answer by ch42
no but there is a link between miscarriage and laughing too hard!

Give your answer to this question below!

What is the difference between juvenile v adult-onset demodicosis

Demodexcanis is most commonly seen in young dogs. It is believed to have an hereditary basis and sire, dam and puppies should not be used for breeding after diagnosis is made. In my hands, treatment, although, expensive is usually successful and very few dogs are euthanased compared with 30 years ago. Young dogs can relapse later on in life especially if immunosuppressive drugs are used.

In older dogs, treatment is usually less successful and the dog may need to stay on maintenance therapy. Finding the underlying cause is always helpful as this makes the prognosis much more hopeful if treatment can be given. Underlying causes include: neoplasia, hypothyroidism, hyperadrenocorticism, serious systemic disease and allergy

Diagnosis

Made by clinical impression and the presence of large numbers of mites on skin scraping or hair plucks.

The mites are usually found in the hair follicles so skin scraping should be deep and capillary ooze should be noted and some of this sample placed on your slide. Sometimes scrapings are negative but you are very suspicious of the mite. This can especially happen in feet and in certain thick skinned dogs such as mastiffs and Sharpeis. (I usually biopsy most of my sharpeis with skin disease as it helps me very quickly differentiate the different types of skin disease this dog commonly gets). Don’t feel bad if you miss it on a skin scraping.

Treatment

As previously mentioned, dogs with localised demodicosis do not usually need treatment. I recommend waiting to see if they progress before starting treatment.

In generalised treatment, it is very important to get the client’s co-operation from the start. This is a frustrating and expensive disease to treat but success levels have risen dramatically since I qualified. Most dogs will have a secondary infection and will need at least one month’s antibiotics at the appropriate dose. Good nutrition with a high quality fixed formulation diet high in essential fatty acids and treatment of fleas and worms are also important.

Amitraz has been the only licensed drug for many years. I am not a huge fan of this drug because of its potential to contaminate the environment and also because it can leave the patient quite unwell too. Amitraz is a formamidine and acts by inhibition of monoamine oxidase. It is also a prostaglandin synthesis inhibitor and alpha adrenergic agonist. If a dog has a deep pyoderma, I recommend 7-10 days of antibiotics to begin healing the skin before applying the amitraz usually at 500ppm, although 250ppm may be used in small dogs. If the dog has long hair it is sensible to clip the dog before instigating therapy. A benzoyl peroxide shampoo(Paxcutol, Virbac) should be used first to get rid of all the crusts and flush the follicles where the mites reside.

Commonly treatment will need to be performed weekly for at least 8-12 weeks to effect a cure. Monthly skin scrapes should be performed to count mite numbers as well as egg and larvae numbers. If no eggs are seen it suggests that the mites have stopped breeding. After I have seen no mites on scrape I continue for 4 weeks and then stop. I tell the owners to watch the dog very closely for the next year. If they do not relapse in the first 12 months they will probably have no further problems unless treated with immunosuppressive drugs such as steroids.

Promeris is a product made by Fort Dodge which contains amitraz in a spot on form to counteract ticks. Thay also have a recommendation for use in demodex. This product seems to reduce numbers rather than eradicate them.

Macrocyclic lactones

These drugs are produced as a by fermentation of various actinomycetes. This class of drugs includes ivermectin and selamectin. They work by potentiating the release and effects of GABA. GABA is a peripheral neurotransmitter in susceptible nematodes, arachnids and insects. They are also agonists of glutamate gated chloride channels. In mammals, GABA is limited to the CNS. These drugs do not cross the blood/brain barrier and are, therefore, safe at usual doseage levels. However, high doses of ivermectin can be toxic in dogs under 3 months or certain breeds particularly collies and collie crosses.

PLEASE DO NOT USE THESE DRUGS IN THESE BREEDS FATALITIES HAVE OCCURRED

However, in most dogs it is wonderfully tolerated and I have found it to be a wonderful drug in the treatment of juvenile onset demodicosis. I usually see referral cases were other treatments have failed and I feel ok to reach for the ivermectin. You need to be careful of the cascade before doing this and obviously request informed consent. Iddex can perform a test called the Ivermectin hypersensitivity test which looks for the MDR1 mutation. This is a useful test to do before starting the dog on ivermectin. The usual dose is 600 micrograms/kg or 1ml per 17 kg. This is given orally each day until no mites are seen and one further month has passed.

Milbemycin can be used at a dose rate of 1-2 mg/kg sid. It is better tolerated by ivermectin sensitive breeds. However, it is very expensive when used in this way. We do not have milbemycin on its own in the UK so it would need to be imported under licence from the VMD. Some dermatologists use cat milbemax tablets at 1-2mg/kg of the milbemycin and ignore the praziquantal dose. This is given orally and daily

Bayer’s product Advocate contains the milbemycinmoxidectin. It has a claim for demodicosis and was presented in Hong Kong at The World Veterinary Dermatology Congress in November 2008 by Ralph Mueller from Germany.

In the study, the advocate was applied every 2 weeks. 72 dogs were included in the study: 52 with juvenile onset, 20 with adult onset disease. 23 juvenile onset dogs went into remission 3 with adult onset. Mean time until remission was 12.5 weeks. He also showed that dogs with mild signs showed a better success rate than those with severe disease.

This products seems to be better at controlling rather than eradicating the mites. Dogs will often look better but are not microscopically cured.

In cases that do not cure, then maintenance treatment will probably be required.

Please check dosage and always get informed consent for un-licensed drugs.

Treating dogs with demodicosis can be frustrating and will often take several months. It is important to stick with treatment and measure success by using repeated skin scrapes. I hope this review of treatment in 2011 will be useful for the practising vet.

Arthritis Foundation Utah/Idaho Chapter
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Researchers Discover a DNA Marker May Indicate Differences in Breast Cancer Between Caucasians and African Americans

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) June 02, 2012

Researchers and doctors at the North Shore-LIJ Health System and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered a potential explanation for why breast cancer is not experienced the same way with African American and Caucasian patients. This data will be presented at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting to be held from Friday through Tuesday (June 1-5) in Chicago, IL.

Breast cancer is more common in Caucasian women than in African American women; however, African American women experience a more aggressive form of breast cancer that occurs almost a decade earlier than Caucasian women. Because of this, African American women have a lower breast cancer survival rate than Caucasian women. To explore the reasons why, researchers and doctors at the North Shore-LIJ Health System and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research conducted a study to determine 1) why the expression of a genetic marker embedded in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), called microRNA, differs between African American and Caucasian women, and 2) if variation in microRNAs may explain the observed survival difference between African American and Caucasian women.

In this study, microRNA profiles from the blood of 32 female patients were collected before removal of breast tumors. The mean age of the patients was 50 years, ranging from age 31 to 68, and 10 of the patients had stage III triple-negative breast cancer (five were African American and five were Caucasian), 10 patients had stage III estrogen-receptor or progesterone-receptor positive breast cancer (five were African American and five were Caucasian), and 12 patients were controls (six were African American and six were Caucasian). Triple-negative breast cancer refers to any breast cancer that does not express three receptors known to advance most breast cancers; estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Although triple-negative breast cancer is estrogen-receptor negative, progesterone-receptor negative and HER2 negative, and the most successful treatments for breast cancer target these receptors, triple-negative breast cancer typically responds to chemotherapy.

The study found that, 1) female Caucasian patients who had triple-negative breast cancer overexpressed 20 microRNAs (15 times higher than the controls), and none of the microRNAs these patients had were found in any of the African American patients, 2) female African American breast cancer patients overexpressed only six microRNAs (15 times higher than the controls), and none of these microRNAs were detected in Caucasian patients who had triple-negative breast cancer, and 3) four microRNAs in African American patients and eight microRNAs in Caucasian patients were not previously reported in association with breast cancer, which suggests that they may be connected to how the patient reacts to cancer.

The striking difference in the patterns of microRNA expression between African American and Caucasian breast cancer patients may provide insight into answering why, when receiving similar treatments, outcomes are different between African Americans and Caucasians, said Iuliana Shapira, MD, director of the Cancer Genetics Program at the North Shore-LIJ Health Systems Monter Cancer Center. Breast cancer patients who have the most devastating outcome may carry the microRNAs that promote cancer. What we saw in this study is that Caucasian women may carry microRNAs that protect against cancer while African American women do not express those microRNAs. The lack of expressing these microRNAs in African Americans could be the cause of poor outcomes seen in these women. Methods to increase microRNAs in the blood before surgery for cancer, such as giving chemotherapy before surgery for cancer, may improve survival rates in African American women with triple-negative breast cancer.

About The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research

Headquartered in Manhasset, NY, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research is home to international scientific leaders in cancer research, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimers disease, psychiatric disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, sepsis, inflammatory bowel disease, human genetics, pulmonary hypertension, leukemia, neuroimmunology, and medicinal chemistry. The Feinstein Institute, part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, ranks in the top 5th percentile of all National Institutes of Health grants awarded to research centers. For more information visit http://www.FeinsteinInstitute.org.

GenericsWeb Exposes Differences Between Abatacept Generic Launch Contraints in EU and US, and Highlights the Need for an Established Route for Biogenerics

Sydney, Australia (PRWEB) March 9, 2010

GenericsWeb, the leader in established pharmaceutical patent analysis and searching, recently published an article that analysed opportunities in launching a generic version of Abatacept. Based on its proprietary Pipeline Patent Intelligence GenericsWeb reveals that the lack of a legislated approval route and data exclusivity period for biogenerics in the US leaves generic developers of Abatacept products wondering how and when they may file for FDA approval of a biogeneric, and when they might expect to be in a position to launch. This is contrasted with the position in the EU where the regulatory pathway and data exclusivity protection is clear, but the Orencia indications are protected by much later ‘use’ patents, whose expiry is not uniform across the region due to the sporadic use of SPC extensions in some member states.

Orencia

Q&A: What is the difference between Infectious Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylitis in symptoms?

Question by momof2: What is the difference between Infectious Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylitis in symptoms?
I have arthritis that has fused my SI joints, and had to also get both my hips replaced due to degeneration of the joint. I thought I had AS. But the tests did not come Positive, but that also is common with people with AS. How can I tell if I have AS or if it could be an Infectious Arthritis? I have had my condition since I was 15yrs

Best answer:

Answer by everythingspeachy2000
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec05/ch065/ch065c.html

infectious arthritis… ABOVE link….

http://www.medicinenet.com/ankylosing_spondylitis/article.htm

for the other…you can read about the symptoms there…

Give your answer to this question below!

Distinguish between rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis with regard to structural changes and causes.?

Question by Jamie K: Distinguish between rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis with regard to structural changes and causes.?

Best answer:

Answer by gect3
Rheumatoid arthritis is a destructive disease and causes erosions on xrays while osteoarthritis (OA) will cause joint narrowing and proliferative changes (increase in bone in areas that the narrow joint rubs against each other)

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects the MCPs (big knuckles before the fingers start) and PIPs (the first joint away from the big knuckes) while OA affects the PIPs and DIPs (the joints near the nails).

Finally RA is an inflammatory disease of unknown cause and OA is a degenerative disease, often found with age, but also of unknown cause.

What do you think? Answer below!

Statins Tradeoff Between Heart Disease and Diabetes Can Be Avoided Says CBCD

Rochester, NY (PRWEB) March 09, 2012

The Center for the Biology of Chronic Disease (CBCD) recently learned that the FDA has added new warning labels regarding side effects such as memory loss and diabetes to the bottles of popular drugs such as Lipitor and Torvast.

What do patients prefer, heart disease or diabetes? When they take statins, they have to choose. Surprised? They shouldnt be. When patients take todays drugs, there is always a tradeoff.

The CBCD believes tradeoffs are not a necessary evil. There is another way.

This tradeoff is the central theme in the debate between authors in the New York Times and Forbes magazines in regards to statins, with the Times writing a critical review of this tradeoff and Forbes responding with a more positive outlook.

Dr. Eric J. Topol, a cardiologist writing in the New York Times said, Were overdosing on cholesterol-lowering statins, and the consequence could be a sharp increase in the incidence of Type 2 diabetes. [1]

As part of a response by Larry Husten, a medical journalist with Forbes magazine, Dr. C. Michael Minder, M.D. a doctor at Johns Hopkins said What is clear is that high risk primary prevention patients stand to gain significant benefit from statin therapy, and the harms of new onset diabetes are outweighed by the reduction in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. [2]

So, should doctors and patients reject the trade-off between diseases when taking statins? Or, should they accept it? (E.G., you might not die from heart disease, but you will die from diabetes.)

The CBCD believes there is another way: neither reject or accept the tradeoff, but eliminate it altogether.

In contrast with the current paradigm held by pharmaceutical companies and the FDA, a paradigm that involves designing drugs that inhibit or stimulate one enzyme/protein/hormone and hoping that this enzyme/protein/hormone is involved in only a single bodily system, the CBCD urges the adoption of an evidence based, alternative view.

The CBCD proposes the adoption of Microcompetition, a theory that identifies the origin of many chronic diseases. Such diseases include atherosclerosis, multiple sclerosis, stroke, cancer, obesity, diabetes, lupus, thyroiditis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and alopecia.

When doctors treat a symptom, such as lowering cholesterol, they aggravate or create all new symptoms elsewhere in the body such as memory loss and diabetes. In contrast, when doctors will treat the origin of the disease they will not only cure it, but also cure other seemingly unrelated diseases.

The CBCD encourages the FDA, doctors, biologists, virologists, and scientists to obtain a copy of Microcompetition with Foreign DNA and the Origin of Chronic Disease written by Dr. Hanan Polansky.

The CBCD believes Dr. Polanskys findings may indeed be a huge blow to the paradigm held by the FDA and the entire pharmaceutical industry.

The book is available as a free download from the CBCD website. (http://www.cbcd.net )

“I found that the theory is groundbreaking and will likely open doors to many exciting research areas and treatment options … biology and medicine lag behind and remain experimental disciplines, which are heavy on experimental data but thin on applicable theories that could guide future directions. In this sense, Dr. Polansky’s book is nothing short of revolutionary.” – Liqun Zhang, PhD – Research Associate, Cystic Fibrosis/Pulmonary Research and Treatment Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The CBCD endorses Dr. Polanskys theory and invites scientists and the media to contact us for dialogue regarding the theory.

For more information on the Center for the Biology of Chronic Disease, or to schedule an interview with Dr. Polansky on the subject of Microcompetition with Foreign DNA, please visit http://www.cbcd.net or call 585-250-9999.

References:

[1] [2 http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryhusten/2012/03/05/statins-and-diabetes-real-concern-or-much-ado-about-nothing/

The Center for the Biology of Chronic Disease (CBCD, http://www.cbcd.net) is a research center recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-for-profit organization. The mission of the CBCD is to advance the research on the biology of chronic diseases, and to accelerate the discovery of treatments for these diseases.

The CBCD published the Purple book entitled Microcompetition with Foreign DNA and the Origin of Chronic Disease written by Dr. Hanan Polansky. The book presents Dr. Polanskys highly acclaimed scientific theory on the relationship between the DNA of latent (chronic) viruses and the onset of chronic diseases. Dr. Polanskys book is available as a free download from the CBCD website.

We invite biologists, virologists, and scientists everywhere to download Dr. Polansky’s book here: http://cbcd.net/.

###

whats the diff between osteoarthritis nd rheumatoid arthritis?

Question by babyboricua: whats the diff between osteoarthritis nd rheumatoid arthritis?

Best answer:

Answer by userone116
Osteoarthritis comes as a result of physical labor on the joints. It primarily hits the big joints such as the knees and the elbows. It is possible for it to present on one side of the body or another. Typically occurs in older age and treatments include COX inhibitors such as Ibuprofen.

Rheumatoid Arthritis occurs as a result of a type III hypersensitivity. Immune complexes form and attack joint tissue. The people with this often patients test positive for Rheumatoid Factor though this is not true for everyone. Typically this hits the joints in the hands. The sequele (or end result of disease) has nodules forming where the metacarpals and phalages meet. Pain is typically worst in the morning and decreases as the day continues on as the hand is worked more and the synovial fluid has had a chance to move. This typically occurs bilaterally and treatments also include COX inhibitors as well as other more specific treatments.

Hope this helps.

Add your own answer in the comments!