Arthritis is a wide spread problem throughout the world, with many people experiencing some form of the disease. With over 200 forms of arthritis officially recognized, it is important to know all that you can about the disease.
Three types of chronic arthritis affect children:
Pauciarticular Arthritis: Affects about half of all children with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA,) affecting mostly girls and especially girls under age eight who are most likely to develop this type of JRA.
Pauciarticular disease is a disease of few joints. It most commonly affects the knees, elbows, wrists, and ankles. The joints are usually affected asymmetrically (one joint on one side). Children affected by Pauciarticular disease usually have a positive antinuclear antibody (ANA) test and are prone to an inflammatory eye condition, iridocyclitis. Children with Pauciarticular JRA generally do well.
Polyartiucular Arthritis: Polyarticular arthritis is a form of rheumatoid arthritis that causes pain and swelling in five or more joints. It can strike adults and children. Normally, Polyarticular arthritis affects larger joints like the knees, however it can also impair small joints in the hand, feet, jaw and neck.
Systemic Juvenile Arthritis:
The systemic form affects 20 percent of all children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. A small percentage of children develop arthritis in many of the smaller joints, which produce symptoms of general illness and can have severe arthritis that continues into adulthood.
The cause the arthritis is unknown; however, it is believed the disorder may be inherited. The inflammation of the joints can also be the result of a tick, which can cause Lyme disease. It is therefore important for you to be seen by your doctor and have the symptoms checked.
Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.
If you have been diagnosed with JRA, you will have swelling in your joints. Many people get different forms of arthritis but having it when you are a child can be a little complicated, but most children do out grow JRA.
Symptoms:
- The following symptoms may appear for several weeks or months.
- Body temperature above 39◦C. or 102◦F.
- Swollen glands over the whole body.
- A blotchy non-itchy rash.
Treatments:
If any of the above symptoms are present, a doctor should be consulted within twenty-four hours from the time they first appeared.
You may find that your joints will start to hurt. Sometimes you will feel fine, other times the pain is very sharp and hurts a lot. This is called a “flare-up” at these times you will find that the pain will keep you awake at night. When you wake-up in the morning on these days you will find that soaking in a warm bath for a while will before you start you day will help, the pain a little and eases the swelling around the joints.
Although you cannot join in some of the activities other children participate in there are special exercises that are important in taking care of your arthritis.
To find out what is best for you, regular visits to physiotherapy are very important:
- Weight training, helps your leg muscles to stay straight and in the right position.
- Some children use braces or splints on their legs, hands and feet at night to keep them straight or prevent deformity in the joints or just to rest them during the day.
- Swimming is another good way to exercise, as the water helps work your muscles without straining them.
Medications:
Doctors may prescribe something to ease the discomfort and pain.
- Aspirin, Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, (NSAID) such as ibuprofen to relieve pain and swelling.
- If these drugs are not effective, drugs that are more potent may be prescribed such as corticosteroids.
- At time some of these medications taste terrible, I always have a candy after mine.
Some of the steroid medications help with the pain a lot, but unfortunately they do have side effects, it can make your face all puffy, and take the calcium out of the bones making them soft. In these cases, a diet high in calcium will help a lot.
Operation:
In severe cases, an operation may be performed to replace joints that are painful and damaged or to lengthen muscles that are causing a deformity.
Outlook:
As mentioned above most children do grow out of arthritis completely, one third will continue to have symptoms for many years. In the remaining cases, the condition will get worse.
One other important thing note is that your eyes should be examined on a regular basis, for signs of Iritis, which is the inflammation of the iris and the muscular ring that surrounds it. Serious attacks are rare in childhood, but some children with JRA may suffer from a persistent or recurrent form of Iritis.
Over the years there have been many studies made and programs setup so as to give both children and adults some relieve, and as long as you listen to your body, you can be enjoy the things like other people, just doing them in a way so as not to put stress on your body.
For more information, please visit the following links, which will give you all the information you need on arthritis in your part of the world.
www.rheumatology.org.au, www.arthritis.ca, www.arthritis.org.nz, www.arthriticassociation.org.uk, www.arthritis.org.
Written by Sylvia McGrath, October, 2011
**Please note: that this e-book is just to serve as an information resource, this is not to be used for diagnosis. If you have any medical concerns or questions, please see your doctor for a proper diagnosis
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