Osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are chronic joint disorders. RA is also an autoimmune disease. OA and RA symptoms and signs include joint pain, warmth, and tenderness. Over-the-counter pain relievers treat both diseases. There are several prescription medications that treat RA. Read more: Osteoarthritis vs. Rheumatoid Arthritis Article
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What Is Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)? Symptoms, Treatment, Diagnosis
What is rheumatoid arthritis (RA)? Learn about treatment, diagnosis, and the symptoms of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Discover...
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Osteoarthritis (OA): Treatment, Symptoms, Diagnosis
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease most often affecting major joints such as knees, hands, back, or hips....
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Exercises for Knee Osteoarthritis and Joint Pain
Learn about osteoarthritis and exercises that relieve knee osteoarthritis pain, stiffness and strengthen the knee joint and...
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Rheumatoid Arthritis Exercises: Joint-Friendly Workouts
Regular exercise boosts fitness and helps reverse joint stiffness for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). WebMD demonstrates...
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Osteoarthritis: 15 Tips to Improve Daily Living With OA
Have arthritis in the knee? Osteoarthritis joint pain can make it hard to carry out activities of daily living. Cartilage...
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Osteoarthritis Quiz: Test Your Medical IQ
How does osteoarthritis differ from other types of arthritis? Learn about osteoarthritis with this quiz.
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Rheumatoid Arthritis Quiz: What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?
How is rheumatoid arthritis different from other forms of arthritis, such as osteoarthritis and gout? Take the Rheumatoid...
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Picture of Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is a type of arthritis that is caused by the breakdown and eventual loss of the cartilage of one or more...
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Famous Faces With Rheumatoid Arthritis
Learn more about the famous faces of rheumatoid arthritis such as Lucille Ball, Glenn Frey, and more.
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Fun With Kids? Don't Let Arthritis Stop You
You can still have lots of fun with children despite arthritis. Our experts uncover ways to spend time with your kids or...
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Active Living with Osteoarthritis
Check out this slideshow on Active Living From Day to Night with Osteoarthritis. Even with arthritis you can keep your active...
QUESTION
The term arthritis refers to stiffness in the joints. See AnswerRelated Disease Conditions
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16 Early Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Signs & Symptoms
Early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) symptoms and signs vary differently from person to person. The most common body parts that are initially affected by RA include the small joints of the hands, wrists, and feet, and the knees and hip joints. Joint inflammation causes stiffness. Warmth, redness, and pain may vary in degree.
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Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints, the tissue around the joints, as well as other organs in the body. Early RA signs and symptoms include anemia, both sides of the body affected (symmetric), depression, fatigue, fever, joint deformity, joint pain, joint redness, joint stiffness, joint swelling, joint tenderness, joint warmth, limping, loss of joint function, loss of joint range of motion, and polyarthritis.
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Which Foods Make Arthritis Worse?
Certain foods can contribute to arthritis joint inflammation, like processed foods high in salt, alcohol, red meat, and others. Foods that are good for the joints are beans, greens, and other whole foods that have high fiber and nutrient content and low calories.
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12 Early Signs of Arthritis in Hands
Hand arthritis occurs when there is inflammation in one or more joints of the hand and wrist. A few of the common types of arthritis that affect the hands are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, post-traumatic arthritis (arthritis as a result of an injury), psoriatic arthritis and gout.
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14 Early Signs of Arthritis in the Legs
Leg arthritis affects the joints of the hips, knees, ankles or feet. The early signs and symptoms of arthritis in the legs include pain, swelling, stiffness, decreased range of motion, trouble walking, fever, bump-like swelling, and other symptoms.
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Osteoarthritis (OA)
Osteoarthritis is a type of arthritis caused by inflammation, breakdown, and eventual loss of cartilage in the joints. Also known as degenerative arthritis, osteoarthritis can be caused by aging, heredity, and injury from trauma or disease.
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Osteoarthritis vs. Osteoporosis Differences and Similarities
Arthritis is defined as painful inflammation and joint stiffness. Osteoarthritis is a type of arthritis and the most common cause of chronic joint pain, affecting over 25 million Americans. Osteoarthritis is a type of arthritis that involves the entire joint. Osteoporosis is not a type of arthritis. It is a disease that mainly is caused by a loss of bone tissue that is not limited to the joint areas. It is possible for one person to have both osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. The differences in the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis include; pain, stiffness, and joint swelling, joint deformity, crackle sounds when the joint is moving, and walking with a limp. Osteoporosis is called the "silent disease" because it can progress for years without signs and symptoms before it is diagnosed, severe back pain, bone fractures, height loss, and difficulty or inability to walk. The differences in the causes of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis are that osteoarthritis usually is caused by wear and tear on the joints. Osteoporosis usually is caused by one or more underlying problems, for example, calcium and vitamin D deficiencies. Treatment for osteoarthritis and osteoporosis are not the same. There is no cure for osteoarthritis or osteoporosis.
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11 Home Remedies for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term disorder that progressively affects many parts of the body. Home remedies, diet, and lifestyle changes can help reduce pain and discomfort associated with RA alongside medical treatment. Home remedies alone cannot effectively treat RA or prevent the progression of the disease.
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What Does Stinging Nettle Do to the Body?
Stinging nettle is an herb that is also called common nettle (scientific name: Urtica dioica). Stinging nettle has been a part of herbal medicine for a long time. Stinging nettle is used in the treatment of osteoarthritis, diabetes, hay fever, benign prostatic hyperplasia and water retention.
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Can Rheumatoid Arthritis Be Caused by Stress?
Rheumatoid arthritis can be caused by and result in stress, as well as other conditions such as gastrointestinal problems (IBD).
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Arthritis in Knee: 4 Stages of Osteoarthritis
Painful joint swelling is called arthritis. Osteoarthritis is due to wear and tear of the joints over many years. Arthritis maye develop in any joint, including the fingers, hips and knees. Usually, patients with arthritis feel pain in their joints even after moderate movements. There are four stages of osteoarthritis of the knee.
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17 Early Signs of Arthritis in the Back
Arthritis in the back arises due to the inflammation of facet joints in the spine or sacroiliac joints between the spine and the pelvis. Some of the early signs of arthritis in the back include back pain, stiffness, swelling, bone grinding, loss of flexibility, fatigue, muscle spasms and other symptoms.
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What Is the Function of Cartilage?
Cartilage is a connective tissue type (one of 6 major types) that is an essential part of many of the structures in the body. Cartilage is stiffer and less flexible than muscle, but not as rigid or hard as bone.
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Rheumatoid Arthritis vs. Arthritis
Arthritis is a general term used to describe joint disease. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a type of arthritis in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the joints, causing chronic inflammation.
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Early Signs of Arthritis in the Fingers
The earliest signs of arthritis are pain, swelling and stiffness. If these symptoms are experienced in the fingers, it is likely because of rheumatoid arthritis. The signs and symptoms of arthritis in the fingers include popping sounds, joint deformity, warmth, mucus cysts and bone spurs.
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Early Signs of Arthritis in Shoulder
Early signs and symptoms of arthritis in the shoulder include pain in the shoulder joint that's worse when lifting heavy objects, pain that radiates down the arm and shoulder joint sounds like grinding, clicking, and crackling.
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What Are 5 Common Risk Factors to Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder (the body's immune system mistakenly attacks its own cells). Certain factors increase the risk of RA.
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Early Signs of Arthritis in the Wrist
Wrist arthritis is inflammation (swelling) of one or more joints of the wrist. Wrist arthritis is long-lasting or permanent and eventually causes severe joint damage. The early signs of arthritis in the wrist include morning stiffness, redness, tenderness, pain, swelling, weakness, warmth and other symptoms.
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Do Anti-Inflammatories Help Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder. Anti-inflammatory medications can help address symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
Treatment & Diagnosis
- Rheumatoid Arthritis vs. Lupus: Differences and Similarities
- What Is Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA)?
- What Is the Best Treatment for Arthritis?
- How Long Does It Take to Recover From a Triple Arthrodesis?
- What Is the Best Treatment for Osteoarthritis?
- What Are the Four Stages of Osteoarthritis?
- What Is Ankle Arthrocentesis?
- What Is an Ulnar Gutter Splint Used For?
- What Is Volar Splinting?
- When Is a Thumb Injection Needed?
- What Is Tendon Transfer Surgery?
- What Is the Treatment for Septic Arthritis?
- What Is an Osteochondral Grafting of Articular Cartilage Injuries?
- How Do You Release a Trapped Ulnar Nerve?
- What Is Elbow Arthrocentesis?
- What Is a Medial Epicondyle Injection For?
- How Is Knee Arthrocentesis Performed?
- What Is Hip Arthroscopy?
- What Is a Metatarsophalangeal Arthrocentesis?
- What Is Joint Aspiration (Arthrocentesis)?
- What Is an Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty?
- Why Is Wrist Arthrocentesis Performed?
- What Is Metacarpophalangeal Arthrocentesis?
Medications & Supplements
- Corticosteroids
- Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)
- acetaminophen (Tylenol, Tylenol Arthritis Pain, Tylenol Ext, Little Fevers Children's Fever/Pain)
- Aleve (naproxen) vs. Celebrex (celecoxib)
- celecoxib (Celebrex)
- What Does Prednisone Do to Your Body?
- Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) vs. Naproxen (Aleve)
- Side Effects of Celebrex (celecoxib)
- infliximab (Remicade)
- methotrexate (Rheumatrex, Trexall)
- hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil)
- Types of Osteoarthritis Medications
- Chloroquine (Aralen) vs. Hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil)
- sulfasalazine (Azulfidine)
- ibuprofen (NSAID)
- adalimumab (Humira)
- Humira (adalimumab) Side Effects, Warnings, and Drug Interactions
- hydrocortisone
- Otezla (apremilast) Side Effects, Warnings, and Drug Interactions
- betamethasone
- etanercept (Enbrel)
- Pennsaid (diclofenac sodium)
- pau d’arco
- capsicum
- Duexis (ibuprofen and famotidine)
- Vimovo (naproxen and esomeprazole magnesium)
- Side Effects of Enbrel (etanercept)
- Types of Arthritis Medications
- Vivlodex (meloxicam)
- Side Effects of Rayos (prednisone)
- boswellia
- Side Effects of Depen (penicillamine)
- Kevzara (sarilumab)
- Sandimmune (cyclosporine)
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