arthrosis (as disease)

English translation: osteoarthritis

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	arthrosis (as disease)
Selected answer:	osteoarthritis
Entered by:	Marie-Hélène Hayles

15:40 Aug 26, 2005

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Medical - Medical (general)

English term or phrase: arthrosis (as disease)

My Medical Encyclopaedic Dictionary (Italian/English) defines arthrosis as a "degenerative process in a joint" and translates it as "artrosi". It defines osteoarthritis as "degenerative joint disease" and translates it as "osteoartrite". i.e. although the definitions are similar, the translations are different.

However, all on-line medical sources I've looked at say that arthrosis (in this sense) is a synonym for osteoarthritis - and "osteoarthritis" seems to be far more commonly used than "arthrosis". In addition, while I've seen "artrosi" in countless Italian documents I've translated, I don't remember ever seeing "osteoartrite". It seems unlikely that osteoarthritis is more common in English speaking countries and arthrosis more common in Italy - to me, it seems much more likely that my dictionary is wrong and that the normal translation of "artrosi" is "osteoarthritis".

Are there any doctors out there who can tell me if arthrosis and osteoarthritis really are synonyms or not? Excuse the long description, but I've been puzzling over this for several years now!

Marie-Hélène Hayles KudoZ activity Questions: 32 (none open) (7 closed without grading) Answers: 649
Local time: 17:53

osteoarthritis

Explanation:
I asked a similar question recently in German to English. See Elena's answer.

http://www.proz.com/kudoz/1072409

Selected response from:

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 09:53

Grading comment

I'd really like to select all your answers as you all provided extremely useful additional information! As Nick commented, selecting just one answer is my problem. :-) But as Kim was first, he "wins".

Thanks very much to everyone who contributed.
2 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +11

synonyms

Kurt Porter

4 +5

osteoarthritis

Kim Metzger

4 +4

Neither is this for grading ;-)

Drunya

4 +2

osteoarthritis is a misnomer insofar as its suffix implies

Nick Lingris

2 +3

Not for grading

Prisma

artrosis

celiacp

artrosis (Spanish); arthrosis (English)

Marcela Greco Laniella

Answers

10 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

osteoarthritis

Explanation:
I asked a similar question recently in German to English. See Elena's answer.

http://www.proz.com/kudoz/1072409

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 09:53
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 22

Grading comment

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks very much Kim! I didn't see your previous question because I searched Kudoz for "arthrosis" and "osteoarthritis" - but if Elena says they're synonyms, then I'm convinced!

11 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +11

synonyms

Explanation:
arthrosis - another term for osteoarthritis.
http://www.arc.org.uk/about_arth/glossary.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthrosis
Osteoarthritis (OA), also known as arthrosis or degenerative joint disease, is a disease featuring pain and impaired function of the joints. It is the most common form of arthritis. While inflammation contributes to the disease process, the main cause is "wear and tear" to the synovium (joint lining). Treatment is with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), local injections with glucocorticoids and with joint replacement surgery. There is no cure for osteoarthritis.

Kurt Porter
Local time: 20:53
Native speaker of: English

25 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

Not for grading

Explanation:
Here is a very good website with a glossary with medical terms all used within the field of rheumatology.

http://www.ilar.org/Glossary/Glossary_a.htm

Prisma

Notes to answerer

Asker: thanks!

58 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

osteoarthritis is a misnomer insofar as its suffix implies

Explanation:
This is all Greek to me! (but in a good sense)

-itis is a suffix of Greek origin, normally used for inflammatory diseases or inflammations of a part of the body. Examples are appendicitis (inflammation of the vermiform appendix of the cæcum), bronchitis, gastritis, peritonitis, pneumonitis, tonsilitis, etc.
-osis is also a Greek suffix and is not used for inflammatory diseases or inflammations of a part.

*Arthritis* (arthr- for joint) means "an inflammation of the joints". According to the Britannica, there are three principal forms: osteoarthritis; rheumatoid arthritis; and septic arthritis.

According to its etymology, osteoarthritis means "inflammation of the joints of the bones". According to the Britannica again, *osteoarthritis* is a ubiquitous disorder affecting all adults to a greater or lesser degree by the time they have reached middle age. It is not restricted to humans. The name osteoarthritis is a *misnomer* insofar as its suffix implies that the condition has an inherently inflammatory nature. For this reason it frequently is called *degenerative joint disease* or, in Europe, *osteoarthrosis* or *arthrosis deformans*. [End of Britannica quote]

Nick Lingris
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:53
Native speaker of:

Greek
PRO pts in category: 20

59 mins confidence:

artrosis (Spanish); arthrosis (English)

Explanation:
Both terms are not synonyms. Rheumatoid arthritis causes painful swalling of the joints, whitle arthrosis adds to this the progressive deformity of the joints and bones (tipically, fingers become wrought and/or bent. My mother has been long treated for this disease, so I am well aware of the main characteristics and differences.

Marcela Greco Laniella
Argentina
Local time: 12:53
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Spanish

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

Neither is this for grading ;-)

Explanation:
Arthrosis, or osteoarthrosis, is now even automatically considered by medical search engines to be a synonym for osteoarthrits, which makes it hard to follow its usage. As Elena (in Kim's link) mentioned, the suffix -itis denotes an inflammatory condition, yet osteoarthritis is not much of an inflammation, at least not initially. This is mentioned, for instance, by Lauren Ackerman in his _Surgical Pathology_ dating back to 1974: "The term osteoarthritis is inaccurate because this type of joint disease is degenerative and not inflammatory"; he even uses the word 'osteoarthrosis' as an alternative. Yet, this inaccurate usage stuck. The Lancet has two papers, one from late forties and one from mid-seventies, where the term 'arthrosis' is used. Says a Danish author:

"...This lesion is usually called temporomandibular cracking, snapping joint, machoire a ressort, or Kiefergelenkknacken, which names, however, denote only one of the symptoms. I have established (Foged 1941a, b, and c) that the cracking of the temporomandibular joint and accompanying clinical features are due to arthrosis - a
degenerative non-infectious condition - and that the cracking (or snapping) is merely one of several symptoms in the more serious cases. In 1940 I suggested that the disease be called arthrosis temporomandibularis, which name covers its aetiology, pathogenesis, pathological anatomy, and symptoms. So far as I know, this name
has not been criticised, and it has been adopted by Noergaard (1947) and Boman (1947).

Both arthrosis and osteoarthritis are synonymous with 'dejenerative joint disease'.

So yes, osteoarthritis and (osteo)arthrosis are synonymous. I guess, the confusion with the terms arises from two different influential schools of medicine: the German school used the word arthrosis (which we, Russians, also took from them), and the British school used the word osteoarthritis. I unearthed the following description from a mid-19th-century paper in The Lancet:

================
ST. GEORGE’S HOSPITAL.
A CASE OF CHRONIC OSTEO-ARTHRITIS.
(Under the care of Dr. FULLER.)

THERE is a very characteristic example of the disease which used to be called "rheumatic gout" now in St. George’s Hos. pital, under Dr. Fuller’s care. It is as well, perhaps, that the old title is becoming abolished; for the malady is one with a special pathology, which is neither that of rheumatism nor of gout. The new name has at least the merit of being descriptive, without committing one to any very distinct pathological theory.

The patient is a half-caste single female, aged forty-two, who lies in bed suffering dreadful pain in her joints, unable to bend her knees, and only able to put her right hand to her head with much difficulty and agony. Active and passive movements of the shoulders and elbows give a grating sensation to the hand applied to the joints. The knuckles are enlarged, and so are the lower ends of the ulnas. The elbowjoints also are somewhat enlarged. The enlargement is hard and solid, as though caused by deposition of bone. There is
pain in the cervical portion of the spine, and in that part, the patient told us, she could feel grating occasionally. The muscular system is greatly wasted, apparently from disease. When the thin forearm is grasped and she moves her fingers, a grating can be felt, as though in the sheaths of the tendons. There are no deposits of lithate of soda.
======================

P.S. Words of caution: the word 'arthrosis' may have a different meaning 1) when used with a prefix pseudo- to mean a malunion after a fracture; 2) when used to describe a permanently immobile joint.

Drunya
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Russian
PRO pts in category: 20

Notes to answerer

Asker: that's very interesting, thank you.

22 hrs confidence:

artrosis

Explanation:
ése es el nombre exacto en español castellano

celiacp
Spain
Local time: 17:53
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Spanish

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