Juvenile arthritis
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Arthritis has always been erroneously thought of as a condition that affects the elderly. Unfortunately, it does affect the children as well. Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis most commonly affects children. Though it is generally mild, causing hardly any problems, in severe cases it causes damage to the joints and the tissues. Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis causes inflammation of the joints, stiff and bent joints, damage to the joints, and change in the growth. As is the case of Ankylosing Spondylitis, children suffering from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis also suffer from stiffness of the joints in the morning on waking up, or after a prolonged period of rest.
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis mostly affects children below the age of 16. Unlike the rheumatoid arthritis of adults, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is a group of several diseases. The only common characteristic of the adult and child rheumatoid arthritis is the “inflammation of joints and pain”.
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis cannot be diagnosed by any single test. A series of tests may be required to diagnose this form of arthritis and only after persistent presence of symptoms for at least 6 weeks, to rule out other possible medical conditions. A pediatric rheumatologist is an expert who specializes in arthritis in children, and may be required to treat children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
Unlike pauciarticular and polyarticular, in systemic cases, parts of the body become affected along with the inflammation of some organs. Skin rashes, fever, inflammation of the joints and internal organs such as the spleen and liver may accompany systemic disease.
Pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis affects a few joints, as little as four, or less. Half the children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis have this type of arthritis, and usually the joints of the knees, ankles, and elbows are affected. Joints of the wrists, spine and finger or toe joints are rarely, if at all, affected. It normally affects joints on one side of the body and not both sides.
Pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis refers to a form of the disease that tends to affect four or less joints. Pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis symptoms include selling, stiffness, discomfort or severe pain around the afflicted joints. Most often, pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis affects the joints of the wrist and knee. A key distinguishing feature of pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is that it may also affect the eyes. The iris may become inflamed. In most cases, ophthalmologists are often among the first to diagnose cases of pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
Systematic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis refers to the fact that the disease may sometimes affect the whole body. This happens when the immune system becomes weakened by the disease. Children afflicted with systematic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis may experience fevers, rashes, in addition to the feelings of joint stiffness and overall pain and discomfort. Other symptoms that are specific to the systematic form of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis include the enlargement of the lymph nodes and the spleen.
