No. Arthritis is an umbrella term for more than 100 different forms of rheumatism. Rheumatic diseases or rheumatism can include autoimmune or inflammatory diseases that affect muscles, organs, joints and bones. Arthritis causes inflammation to induce symptoms, including swelling and tenderness in different joints. The most common conditions with arthritis are osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, gout rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia.
Osteoarthritis is the gradual wearing down of cartilage in the joints with various risk factors such as old age, female gender, obesity, joint injuries, repeated stress on joints, genetics, bone deformities and metabolic disorders. Among all these, old age is the most common risk factor for osteoarthritis.
When osteoarthritis occurs in the joints, it damages the cartilage. In response to this, there is an increase in the production of synovial fluid in the affected joint. Although synovial fluid lubricates joints to enable smooth movement, excess of it distends the joints to cause pain.
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