A comparative Study of Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteo Arthritis and Gout

Pain is an indicator of some damage occurring inside our body .At times we are able to identify the cause, at other times we remain clueless. But whatever the reason may be, till date it poses a great challenge in front of the medical professionals.

Arthritis is one such complication that causes pain. It is a broad term that covers hundreds of medical conditions. Different types of arthritis causes different types of pain. There is no treatment available which can erase it off completely so the management of pain is the treatment of choice. And management becomes easier if we pin down the facts and educate ourselves to either cope up with it or avoid it.

Here is a comparison between three common types of Arthritis namely Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoarthritis and Gout. 

Gout (Gouty Arthritis)

Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis

Sl .No	Symptoms	Rheumatoid Arthritis	Osteo Arthritis	Gout
1.	Disease	Auto immune disease	Degenerative arthritis	Metabolic disease
2.	Pain	Early signs tends to affect your smaller joints first — particularly the joints fingers and toes. Later on symptoms often spread to the wrists, knees, ankles, elbows, hips and shoulders on both sides of your body.	Symptoms are joint pain, tenderness, stiffness, locking, and sometimes an effusion.	Chills and a mild fever along with a general feeling of malaise. Joint of the big toe most commonly affected.Other joints affected are of ankle.
3.	Gender	More common in women	Common in both men and women	Common in men but in women after menopause
4.	Age	Between 35-45 years old	Above 60	Usually over 35 yrs of age in men and after menopause in women
5.	Speed of the disease	Rapid within year	Slow over years	Sudden onset
6.	Cause	Autoimmune disease-environmental and genetic though real cause not known	Wear and tear with age	deposition of uric acid around joints