Arthritis is a medical term used to describe a group of disorders that affect the joints and muscles in the human body. There are more than a hundred different forms of arthritis, each affecting one or more parts of the body. Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis are the most common types of this disease. Areas such as hands, elbows, feet, spine and knees fall prey to arthritis. What are the symptoms of arthritis? Inflammation, pain in joints, and inability to freely move the joints, are some of the most common symptoms of arthritis. Other (less common) symptoms include loss of appetite, weight loss, painful swelling and inflammation, fever and anemia. Joint arthritis damages the cartilage, which is a fluid-like substance that holds a lubricant to facilitate movement. Being a form of chronic disease, arthritis stays with the patient for years. One must understand that arthritis is a complex degenerative disorder that can affect people at any stage of life. Anti-inflammatory drugs and other medications can provide temporary relief to patients. However, a healthy, disciplined lifestyle, which includes healthy food and regular exercise, can help arrest the development of arthritis. The most prevalent form of juvenile arthritis is juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, or JRA. It affects approximately 50,000 children in the United States. JRA also called juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) because it is very different from adult rheumatoid arthritis.
What Causes JRA?
It's not known exactly what causes JRA in kids. Research indicates that it is an autoimmune disease. In autoimmune diseases, white blood cells lose the ability to tell the difference between the body's own healthy cells and harmful invaders like bacteria and viruses. The immune system, which is supposed to protect the body from these harmful invaders, instead releases chemicals that can damage healthy tissues and cause inflammation and pain.To effectively manage and minimize the effects of arthritis, an early and accurate diagnosis is essential. By understanding the symptoms and characteristics of each type of JRA, you can help your child maintain an active, productive lifestyle.
Signs and Symptoms
The first signs of arthritis can be subtle or obvious. Signs may include limping or a sore wrist, finger, or knee. Joints may suddenly swell and remain enlarged. Stiffness in the neck, hips, or other joints can also occur. Rashes may suddenly appear and disappear, developing in one area and then another. High fevers that tend to spike in the evenings and suddenly disappear are characteristic of systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
Diagnosis
To diagnose JRA, the doctor will take a detailed medical history and conduct a thorough physical examination. The doctor may order X-rays to exclude other conditions that can produce similar symptoms
Treatments
In many cases, JRA may be treated with a combination of medication, physical therapy, and exercise. In specific situations, your child may require injection of corticosteroids into the joint or surgery. Your child's health care providers, including the primary care physician, rheumatologist, and physical therapist, will work together to develop the best method of treatment.
The goals of treatment are to relieve pain and inflammation, slow down or prevent the destruction of joints, and restore use and function of the joints to promote optimal growth, physical activity, and social and emotional development in your child
Why Do Kids Get JRA?
No one really knows what causes JRA. Something in the environment such as a virus may trigger the disease in kids that already have certain genes that make it more likely for them to get JRA. JRA is not contagious, so you can't catch it from someone else.
JRA is an autoimmune (say: aw-toe-i-myoon) disease. Normally, a kid's immune system sends out white blood cells to protect the body and fight outside invaders like bacteria and viruses that can make a kid sick. With JRA, the immune system makes a mistake and targets healthy cells as if they were harmful.
Instead of recognizing the healthy cells and saying, "Hi, nice to see you," the immune system thinks the healthy cells need to be destroyed and releases chemicals to fight the healthy cells. The chemicals the immune system releases cause the pain and swelling that a kid with JRA experiences.
What Do Doctors Do?
Just because a joint hurts doesn't mean a kid has JRA. A joint might hurt for a lot of different reasons, which is why it's important to see a doctor to figure out what the problem is.
The doctor will ask a lot of questions. How long has the kid had joint problems? Does he or she feel stiff when getting up or after resting? Are the joints swollen? Was there an injury? Could another problem be causing arthritis, such as Lyme disease? Is there a family history of arthritis or other autoimmune diseases?
Knowing these answers and doing a physical exam, blood tests, and X-rays will help the doctor figure out if it is JRA. If your doctor suspects that you may have JRA, he or she may send you to see a doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of arthritis. This kind of doctor is called a rheumatologist (say: roo-muh-tol-oh-jist).
From:
http://www.arthritisblog.org/
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/arthritis/jra.html
