Even though most of us think that arthritis is a problem that only affects older people, adults are not the only ones who get arthritis. Kids can suffer from the disease too.
It can come as a shock for any parent to hear that their child has arthritis, or juvenile arthritis as it is often called. In order to make an arthritis diagnosis easier on children and their families, the Arthritis Foundation is recognizing Juvenile Arthritis Awareness.
Why Should We Be Aware of Juvenile Arthritis?
Most people think that arthritis is a disease that only adults can get. It is understandable to have this assumption, as many people get arthritis after many years of wear and tear on their joints. However, arthritis can happen for quite a few other reasons, including broken bones, infections, and autoimmune disease (when the body’s immune system attacks healthy tissue by mistake).
Because arthritis can be caused by so many factors, children can also get the disease. In fact, nearly 300,000 children under the age of 18 are are living with arthritis and other similar conditions.
In other words, juvenile arthritis is not uncommon. Yet many parents may not know how to react when they hear that their child has this painful disease.
The Arthritis Foundation uses Juvenile Arthritis Awareness month to reach out to the children and families trying to deal with this disease. Children will find it easier to live with juvenile arthritis is they and their families learn more about the disease and how to treat it.
What is Juvenile Arthritis?
Juvenile arthritis is not one specific disease. Rather, juvenile arthritis is a term used to describe a wide array of autoimmune and inflammatory conditions that can affect children 16 years old and younger.
In general, arthritis is the inflammation of people’s joints, or the area where two bones meet. Juvenile arthritis can also affect the eyes, skin, and gastrointestinal tract.
There are several different types of juvenile arthritis. The most common form of the disease is juvenile idiopathic arthritis, which used to be called juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. In this form of the disease, a child younger than 16 years of age has had swelling in at least one joint for six weeks or more.
Children suffering from juvenile idiopathic arthritis may have a range of symptoms that include the tightening of muscle or soft tissue, the wearing away of bone, joint misalignment, and changes to their growth patterns.
Being diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis is only the beginning for a young patient. After the first diagnosis, a pediatric rheumatologist (or arthritis doctor for children) has to figure out which type of juvenile idiopathic arthritis a child has. The doctor will do this by keeping track of the number of joints affected by the disease during the first six months. The doctor will also give patients the rheumatoid factor blood test – a test that looks in patients’ blood for a substance usually found in people with the disease.
Eventually, a doctor should be able to diagnose a child with one of a number of types of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, including:
- Oligoarthritis: Patients are diagnosed with this type of arthritis if they have four or less joints affected by the disease within the first six months. Oligoarthritis accounts for 40 percent of new cases of juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
- Polyarthritis: Children diagnosed with polyarthritis have five or more joints affected by the disease within the first six months.
- Systemic: Even though only about 10 percent of juvenile idiopathic arthritis cases are systemic, this form of the disease can affect the whole body. Patients can come down with a fever and rash, while inflammation can affect the spleen or the membranes that cover the lungs and heart.
- Enthesitis-related: This type of juvenile idiopathic arthritis happens when inflammation affects the enthuses, or the spots where tendons attach to the bone.
- Other forms of juvenile arthritis: Even though juvenile idiopathic arthritis is the most common type of juvenile arthritis, children can be diagnosed with many other forms of the disease, including juvenile lupus, juvenile scleroderma, juvenile psoriatic arthritis, and juvenile dermatomyositis.
Who Suffers from Juvenile Arthritis?
Juvenile arthritis is rather mysterious. No one really knows what causes each form of the disease. However, some studies have found links between children’s genes and their risk of juvenile arthritis.
Girls are more likely than boys to get oligoarthritis and polyarthritis. Boys, on the other hand, are more likely to get enthesitis-related arthritis. Boys are just as likely as girls to be diagnosed with systemic arthritis.