Let's Tip the Scale to Better Understand Arthritis Types

For years we've seen this statement: "The most common types of arthritis are Osteoarthritis (OA) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)." Arthritis, defined, means joint inflammation.  So in essence this sentence reads, "The most common types of joint inflammation are Osteoarthritis (OA) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)."  There are two major issues with this statement.

First, this statement suggests that both OA and RA only involve joint inflammation.  While this is true of OA, it is not true for RA:
 

Osteoarthritis (OA)

• Limited to joint involvement primarily in the weight bearing joints
• It is caused by degeneration due to age, wear and tear, injury or excessive weight, that leads to cartilage damage
• It is treated primarily with over-the-counter medications, diet and exercise
• Advanced cases lead to complete wearing away of cartilage, causing disability and, at times, joint replacement surgery

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

• Can involve any joint in the body, as well as connective and soft tissues and sometimes organs
• In addition to the physical pain, patients also experience fevers, severe fatigue and flu like symptoms
• It is an autoimmune disease caused by cell malfunction that causes major inflammation that damages joints, tissues and organs.  It is not limited to cartilage.
• It is treated primarily with anti-inflammatory medications, mild chemotherapy drugs and biologic injections or infusions
• Advanced cases lead to inflammation damage to the joints, connective and soft tissues and organs, causing disability and, at times, joint replacement surgery as well as eye, skin, lung and heart issues (although any part of the body can be affected).

So yes, it is true that Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis are the most common types of arthritis (joint inflammation), however, grouping them into the same sentence without explaining that one stops at arthritis (joint inflammation) and one is arthritis plus an autoimmune disease merely skews the interpretation of what RA truly encompasses.


The second issue with this statement is that Osteoarthritis affects 50% of the population. Rheumatoid Arthritis affects 3% of the population.  With a 47% margin in "common types" should these two arthritis types really be grouped together in the same sentence without differentiating them?  Without any type of separation the 1 out of 2 people who have Osteoarthritis are bound to assume that the other most common type of arthritis is much like what they are experiencing.

Here's a thought... why not group Rheumatoid Arthritis with the other diseases that are most closely related to this condition?  RA is a joint and connective tissue disease.  There are a handful of autoimmune diseases that are also both joint and connective tissue diseases, hence the term "autoimmune arthritis".  They are: Systemic Lupus Erythematosis (SLE), Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA), Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), Still's Disease (SD), Primary Sjogren's Syndrome (SS) and Juvenile Arthritis (JA).  While SLE also affects approximately 3% of the population and PsA affects 2%, the rest combined adds millions of people to the weight of the scale. 

 

Also, in addition to the Autoimmune Arthritis diseases mentioned above, there are two other conditions that fit this category:  Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease/Undifferentiated Spondyloarthropathy (UCTD/USpA) and Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD).  Undifferentiated disease means the patient is exhibiting symptoms of Autoimmune Arthritis but the symptoms are not clear enough for an exact diagnosis.  Mixed Connective Tissue Disease is where the patient exhibits 3 very specific diseases at the same time, often called "overlap disease", and is most commonly a combination of Lupus, Scleroderma (a primary Connective Tissue Disease) and Polymyositis (primarily a Muscle Disease).  They are still primarily joint diseases so they too are classified under the Autoimmune Arthritis category.

 

So now RA doesn't have to stand alone on the scale.  If you combine all of the Autoimmune Arthritis diseases they make up for approximately 10% of the population.  Now we're getting somewhere.

 

So let's change the statement "The two most common types of arthritis are Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis" to explain actual types, thus making the scale of awareness a little more even:

"The two most common types of arthritis are Degenerative Arthritis and Autoimmune Arthritis".

 

Now that seems much more accurate and understandable than "The most common types of arthritis are Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis."

50% to 3% isn't a fair assessment of "most common".  50% to 10%, now that certainly tips the scale towards better awareness.  While the weight of 50% is still much heavier than 10%, we still have to factor in how loud that 10% of misunderstood voices can be... now THAT is what will bring balance to the scale.

If you define and differentiate 'arthritis' people will understand.  You can help bring awareness to arthritis, just start using the politically correct language and it will happen.  Let's work together to tip the scale!


Resources:
www.IAAMovement.org
www.psoriasis.org
www.stillsdisease.org
www.rheumatology.org
www.lupus.org