Osteoarthritis Diagnosis For Friend

[Smowball]

My friend , who is 50, went to doctor complaining of pain in various joints etc and he has told her she has osteoarthritis in her hands, knees, ankle and hips- purely by listening to her symptoms and doing some mobility tests and feeling her hands and how far she could rotate her hips etc. I thought it could only be 100% confirmed by doing a blood test?

[Buenchico]

Quote:
"To help determine whether you have osteoarthritis, your GP will first ask you about your symptoms and examine your joints.

Your GP may suspect osteoarthritis if:

you're aged 50 or older
you have joint pain that gets worse the more you use your joints
you have stiffness in your joints in the morning that lasts less than 30 minutes, or no stiffness at all

If your symptoms are slightly different from those listed above, this may indicate another joint condition. For example, prolonged joint stiffness in the morning can be a sign of rheumatoid arthritis.

[i]Further tests – such as X-rays or blood tests – aren't usually necessary[i], but may be used to rule out other possible causes, such as rheumatoid arthritis or a fractured bone"

Source:
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/osteoarthritis/Pages/Introduction.aspx

[Sqad]

\\\\\ I thought it could only be 100% confirmed by doing a blood test?\\\

Exactly.

Although a careful clinical history, as in the case above, could differentiate osteoarthritis from Rheumatoid arthritis.

[Smowball]

Right i see. Thanks both for swift replies. She's just very down about this diagnosis and am Thinking she might not even have it. Mind you not sure what you lose it could be really

[Sqad]

Smowball....what we are dealing with here is not Osteoarthritis as such but a Polyarthritis which has many causes, R.A and OA being only two.

[Smowball]

Poly arthritis?

[Sqad]

Yes.......Polyarthritis..........one word.

[Smowball]

Ah I see. I'll look it up - thanks x