Osteoarthritis is the most common type of Arthritis there is, out of over 100 different kinds. This disease affects over 20 million people in the United States, and it affects men and women equally from about the age of 25. Once the age of 50 or 55 if reached however, this disease is seen more often in women, but it's more common in men until the age of about 45.

Rheumatoid Arthritis on the other hand, often affects women three times more than it does men. When men get this version of arthritis they tend to have it worse than women do, but they don't get it nearly as often. Millions of Americans are afflicted with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease which affects the joints. Specifically, wear and tear, aging, injuries and other factors cause the cartilage tissue to start thinning out and wearing away. This can be caused at younger ages from severe stress on the joints such as the stress caused by carrying around too much body weight, or lifting extreme amounts of weight during muscle building exercises. As people age however, the cartilage wears away normally with time because water in the cartilage increases, and protein decreases.

Rheumatoid Arthritis however, is an inflammation of the tissue around the joints instead. When RA flares up, there is often a swelling and redness to the affected joints, and the area can be tender to the touch as well as painful.

Rheumatoid Arthritis usually happens simultaneously on both sides of the body too. If your right wrist is affected, your left usually is too. Osteoarthritis however, can affect just one joint without affecting the same joint on the opposite side of the body.

Rheumatoid Arthritis pain and stiffness can often be relieved by moving around and exercising, plus applying hot or cold compresses and using anti-inflammatory medications. Osteoarthritis however, will usually become more painful with movement, particularly if the person's cartilage is quite thin or has already worn partially away, because the bones are then rubbing against each other without anything to cushion the movements.

When the cartilage becomes worn away too badly with Osteoarthritis, the bones can rub against each other and cause much more severe pain. This rubbing without cushion can also cause small bone spurs to grow on the edges of the bones, which increases the pain further.

Both Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis can progress slowly over time, and cause loss of mobility and movement in the joints affected. Some people can become fully disabled and unable to work properly if either disease progresses far enough though, and most people experience a variety of related problems such as depression, and problems doing day to day activities.

Losing weight is one of the best ways to help relieve pain and stiffness from both forms of arthritis though, and it can even help slow down or prevent the progression of cartilage damage in Osteoarthritis. Obesity is thought to be the number one cause of Osteoarthritis these days, because of the severe added stress the excess weight places on the knee joints when walking.