What is the difference between rheumatism and rheumatoid arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are both common diseases, but many friends cannot distinguish between the two diseases, mainly because their names are very similar. In fact, the most obvious difference between the two is that one is centralized, while the other is systemic.

Rheumatoid arthritis

1. It is an allergic orthopedic disease and one of the main manifestations of rheumatic fever. The disease usually presents with acute fever and joint pain, with typical manifestations being mild or moderate fever and migratory polyarthritis. The affected joints are mostly large joints such as the knees, ankles, shoulders, elbows, and wrists. It is common for the disease to spread from one joint to another. The lesions are locally red, swollen, burning, and extremely painful. Some patients also have several joints affected at the same time. Atypical patients only have joint pain without other inflammatory manifestations. The acute inflammation generally subsides in 2-4 weeks without leaving any sequelae, but it often recurs. If rheumatic activity affects the heart, myocarditis may occur and even residual heart valve disease may occur.

2. The cause of rheumatoid arthritis is not yet fully understood. Based on the analysis of symptoms, epidemiology and immunology, it is believed that it is closely related to human hemolytic streptococcal infection. It is currently noted that viral infection also has a certain relationship with this disease.

Rheumatoid arthritis

1. It is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease characterized by synovitis of the joints. Persistent and repeated attacks of synovitis can lead to destruction of cartilage and bone within the joint, joint dysfunction, and even disability. Vasculitis lesions affect every organ in the body, so the disease is also called rheumatoid disease.

2. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease with an unknown cause. Its main clinical manifestations are chronic, symmetrical, polysynovial arthritis and extra-articular lesions. It is an autoimmune inflammatory disease. The disease often occurs in small joints such as hands, wrists, and feet, with repeated attacks and symmetrical distribution. In the early stages, there are symptoms of redness, swelling, heat, pain and dysfunction in the joints. In the late stages, the joints may become stiff and deformed to varying degrees, accompanied by atrophy of bones and skeletal muscles, which can easily lead to disability. From the perspective of pathological changes, rheumatoid arthritis is a widespread inflammatory disease that primarily affects the synovial membrane of the joints (which may later spread to the articular cartilage, bone tissue, joint ligaments and muscle tendons), and secondly the serous membrane, heart, lungs, eyes and other connective tissues. In addition to joint lesions, systemic manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis include fever, fatigue, pericarditis, subcutaneous nodules, pleurisy, arteritis, peripheral neuropathy, etc. Rheumatoid arthritis in a broad sense includes not only inflammatory lesions in the joints, but also widespread diseases throughout the body.