Osteoarthritis vs Rheumatoid Arthritis - Difference and Comparison

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	Osteoarthritis	Rheumatoid Arthritis
Duration of morning stiffness:	Morning stiffness lasts less than 1 hour; returns at the end of the day or after	Morning stiffness lasts longer than 1 hour
Presence of symptoms affecting the whole body (systemic):	Whole-body symptoms are not present.	Frequent fatigue and a general feeling of being ill are present
Associated symptoms:	Symptoms occur in isolation, with no systemic symptoms	Frequent feelings of "being sick inside," with fevers, weight loss, or involvement of other organ systems
Age of onset:	usually in old age	at any time in life
speed of onset:	slow, over years	Relatively rapid, over weeks to months
Joint symptoms:	Joints painful but without swelling	Joints are painful, swollen, and stiff
Pattern of joints that are effected:	Symptoms often begin on one side of the body and may spread to the other side. Symptoms begin gradually and are often limited to one set of joints, usually the finger joints closest to the fingernails or the thumbs, large weight-bearing joints.	It often affects small and large joints on both sides of the body (symmetrical), such as both hands, both wrists or elbows, or the balls of both feet.

Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis are different types of arthritis. Although they share some similar characteristics, each has different symptoms and requires different treatment. Therefore, an accurate diagnosis is important.

1 Cause
2 Signs and symptoms
3 Location of joints involved
4 Prevalence
5 References

[edit] Cause

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disease in which your own immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue, causing inflammation that damages your joints. On the other hand, Osteoarthritis (OA) is not an autoimmune disease. It is a condition of wear and tear associated with aging or injury. The immune system is not affected.

[edit] Signs and symptoms

RA usually causes pain or stiffness lasting for more than 30 minutes in the morning or after long rest and lack of activity. OA stiffness tends to get worse with use throughout the day.
RA is associated with symmetrical swelling e.g., both hands, both elbows, etc. whereas OA is associated with asymmetrical (not "matching") swelling in individual joints that are not part of a pair — e.g., one knee and an elbow, instead of both knees
Most typically, RA symptoms include joint pain, swelling, tenderness, and redness of the joints; prolonged morning stiffness; and less range of movement. Some people also experience fever, weight loss, fatigue, and/or anemia Generally, OA symptoms include joint stiffness, pain, and enlarged joints and it does not have any systemic symptoms.
RA tends to cause swelling and pain in smaller joints such as the hands and ankles while OA tends to cause pain and swelling in bigger joints such as the hips and knees.

[edit] Location of joints involved

With RA, inflammation generally occurs in the knuckles and at the joints closest to your hands, nearer the base of your fingers. On the other hand with OA, inflammation generally occurs at the joint closest to your fingernail.

[edit] Prevalence

OA is much more common than RA. In the United States alone, an estimated 20 million people have osteoarthritis, and approximately 2.1 million people have RA.