Osteoarthritis usually involves the joints of feet, hands and spine as well as big weight-bearing joints like knees and hips. It is resulted from the breakdown of protein substance of joints known as cartilage and leads to pain and inflammation of joints. On the other side, gout is the disease of joints characterized by the inflammation of joints. It is caused due to deposition of uric acid crystals in the cartilage and affects the joints of knees, ankles, feet, elbows, fingers and wrists.
Osteoarthritis is mainly associated with aging, joint injuries, obesity, some genetic factors and inflammatory response. Diabetes, gout and some other hormonal disorders are also responsible for the development of this disease. While in gout, because of deposition of uric acid crystals in the cartilage, there is degeneration of cartilage resulting in the inflammation of joints. Some of the common causes of gout are higher levels of uric acid in the body, high alcohol intake, obesity, high intake of food containing purines, some medications used for the treatment of high blood pressure and long-lasting kidney disease.
Some of the risk factors for osteoarthritis are old age, gender, bone deformities, joint injuries, obesity and some other diseases affecting the joints and bones. As this disease is associated with aging, older adults are at the higher risk of osteoarthritis. Women are likely to more susceptible to this disease than men. Besides this, some congenital bone deformities such as defective cartilage or malformed joints may be responsible for osteoarthritis.
In addition to these risk factors for osteoarthritis, repetitive joint injuries resulted from sports or accidents can cause the risk of developing osteoarthritis. Besides this, obesity is another important risk factor for osteoarthritis. It puts excessive weight on the weight-bearing joints such as knees and hips and can lead to degeneration of joint cartilage. Some other joint and bone diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, septic arthritis and Paget’s disease of bone can be significant risk factors for osteoarthritis.
Some of the risk factors of gout are family history, lifestyle factors, medical conditions, certain medications, obesity, age and sex. Alcoholic individuals are at the higher risk of osteoarthritis. Besides this, certain diseases including lymphomas, leukemias and hemoglobin disorders can cause excessive formation of uric acid in the body. Untreated hypertension and chronic conditions like diabetes, arteriosclerosis (narrowing of arteries) and hyperlipidemia (high levels of cholesterol and fat) are likely to develop gout.
Certain medications such as low dose aspirin, cyclosporine, niacin, thiazide diuretics and tuberculosis medications can cause the increased levels of uric acid in blood which may result in gout. In addition to this, if there is family history of gout, you are more prone to develop this disease. Besides this, gout is more common in men than in women and men between the age-group of 40-50 are likely to develop the symptoms.
The patients with the conditions like joint injury, dehydration, excessive dining, fever and recent energy are at the higher risk of developing gout. In addition to this, other risk factors are exposure to lead in the environment and high intake of foods rich in purine such as red meat, cream sauces, liver, scallops and sardines.
