Cirrhosis Support Group

Does anyone know what the difference is between arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis and are both complications of cirrhosis? I was told upon diagnosis that arthritis goes hand-in-hand with it.

Rhematoid arthritis is an autoimmune illness and there is a specific blood test that indicates it.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder, which is due to aging and wear and tear on a joint. As Marg said above RA is a autoimmune disease.

Neither is a direct complication of Cirrhosis.

However if you have one autoimmune disease you will often have others. so RA is always a possibility for autoimmune hepatitis patients.

Great question and great answers - Thanks Anita, Gail and Marg - I've been wondering the same thing and now it is all completely logged in my brain. I have the OA and feel for those with RA. I treasure the most beautiful scarf a church member crocheted (sp?) for me - she must have been 70 and I still don't know how she did it with her fingers so crippled and bent. Never appreciated the pain people suffer even with just "OA" until I got it. Ru

So does that mean OA is NOT an autoimmune disease, just RA?

Yup.

Arthritis usually comes with age and most of us are nearing 50 or over and would have some of the aches and pains of arthritis even if we didn't have cirrhosis. The joint pain associated with liver disease I find differs than the arthritis I was suffering from before this all hit. I've had arthritis (OA) in broken bones since I was in my mid 20's. This joint pain that has accompanied the liver disease is more stiff, not so much a dull ache.