The two conditions can cause similar symptoms, but they have different causes and treatments. OA usually affects fewer joints, and its symptoms are generally limited to the joints. The progression of RA is more difficult to predict, and it can cause more widespread symptoms.
Rheumatoid arthritis can be one of the most painful types of arthritis; it affects joints as well as other surrounding tissues, including organs. This inflammatory, autoimmune disease attacks healthy cells by mistake, causing painful swelling in the joints, like hands, wrists and knees.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is recognized as the most disabling type of arthritis. While they both fall under the "arthritis" umbrella and share certain similarities, these diseases have significant differences.
1 RA causes pain and damage in your joints, while osteoporosis can make your bones weak and more likely to break. Studies have estimated that about a third of people with RA experience bone loss. 2 This is especially important for women to know, since they're much more likely than men to develop either condition.
Which Is Worse — RA or OA? The progression of RA is more challenging to predict. OA tends to be more predictable as symptoms are limited to affected joints. Nonetheless, OA can still be a debilitating condition.
Disease Onset
Osteoarthritis tends to develop gradually over several years, as the joint cartilage wears away. Eventually the bones of your joints rub against each other. In contrast, the pain and stiffness of rheumatoid arthritis can develop and worsen over several weeks or a few months.
Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis: Is It Possible to Have Both? It is possible to have both OA and RA. A previous joint injury can lead to both diseases, but OA is more likely to develop as you age. Likewise, as people with RA age, they are at risk of getting OA.
Osteoporosis itself isn't painful. But when the condition is severe, it can lead to fractures and other painful problems. The pain is usually more severe than the aches many people feel as they get older.
The mean residual life expectancy of a 50-year-old man beginning osteoporosis treatment can be estimated at 18.2 years and the residual life expectancy of a 75-year-old man beginning treatment estimat- ed at 7.5 years. The corresponding estimates in women are 26.4 years and 13.5 years.
The main symptoms of osteoarthritis are pain and sometimes stiffness in the affected joints. The pain tends to be worse when you move the joint or at the end of the day.
Bone erosion and destruction of cartilage can happen quickly within the first two years that you have rheumatoid arthritis, and the damage may continue to develop over time.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis. It tends to involve more than one of the small joints of the hands and feet. In particular, the lining of the joint or tendons (the synovium) is inflamed, causing warmth, pain, and stiffness.
If you have RA, joint pain can range from mild to moderate or severe. Sometimes it can feel like a sprain or broken bone. Some areas of your body may even be painful to the touch.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting millions of people worldwide. It occurs when the protective cartilage that cushions the ends of the bones wears down over time. Although osteoarthritis can damage any joint, the disorder most commonly affects joints in your hands, knees, hips and spine.
If you have stronger pain, you can try codeine, dihydrocodeine and Tramadol. These can also be combined with paracetamol, such as Co-codamol, Co-dydramol and Tramacet. Co-codamol combines paracetamol and codeine and comes in different strengths. Your doctor can help you decide which dose is suitable to treat your pain.
The fourth stage of osteopenia and osteoporosis
Without any intervention, osteoporosis can progress to stage four. During this stage the effects of significant bone loss become visible. Softening of the bones and accumulated fragility fractures, especially in the spine, results in deformity.
While bone pain is most likely due to decreased bone density or an injury to your bone, it can also be a sign of a serious underlying medical condition. Bone pain or tenderness could be the result of infection, an interruption in the blood supply, or cancer. These conditions require immediate medical attention.
Lupus and Scleroderma
The autoimmune diseases systemic lupus erythematosus and scleroderma often present with joint involvement that mimics rheumatoid arthritis. While lupus and scleroderma are two different diseases, they often overlap with one another.
Like joint pain, the stiffness is often worse in the morning or after a period of inactivity. Morning stiffness that is a symptom of another type of arthritis, called osteoarthritis, usually wears off within 30 minutes of getting up, but morning stiffness in rheumatoid arthritis often lasts longer than this.
RA causes symptoms that range from numbness and tingling to paralysis. It can result from joint damage that RA causes, the disease process itself, or medications that treat it.
X-rays are a helpful tool for figuring out joint pain. Joints in RA look different than joints in OA. For example, there's less space between the bones in OA, and there is more bone erosion in RA. That said, X-rays can be normal in either disease if it's early.
rheumatoid arthritis. MRI can clearly identify some of the signs of osteoarthritis, including whether cartilage is wearing away. MRI can also detect signs of rheumatoid arthritis, but a doctor will also use a variety of other tests, such as blood tests. Doctors can distinguish between soft tissues and fluids using MRI.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that primarily affects the joints. However, rheumatoid arthritis occasionally affects other parts of the body — including the eyes. The most common eye-related symptom of rheumatoid arthritis is dryness.