Juvenile Arthritis

Juvenile arthritis isn’t nice at all. Especially when you consider that it’s a young child suffering the pain. Juvenile arthritis is commonly referred to as JRA, and is not a degenerative disease as such. Rather, we can classify it as an auto-immune disease, which is caused by an attack of the immune system upon the body.

Usually, our immune system protects us from dangerous enemies from outside (like viruses), but in the case of auto-immune diseases, there is no such protection. Juvenile arthritis affects children of sixteen years of age, and under.

So now the question is – what causes JRA? Well, this is still unknown, but doctors and scientists say that the cause could be a viral illness. Of course, there is also a genetic factor to be taken into account.

You should be aware that almost 1 child in every 1,000 is affected by juvenile arthritis. There are three types of JRA – Pauciarticular, Polyarticular, and Systemic. The first one is the most common type, and usually has a tendency to affect more girls than boys.

What are the juvenile arthritis symptoms? Well, a common symptom is swelling of the joints – followed by pain and stiffness in the area. A child may also develop a limp – this should be checked out as soon as possible because this is one of the earliest signs. Another symptom is pain in the knees, as they are particular prone to JRA. Other juvenile arthritis symptoms include fever and a pinkish rash.

The best thing to do in the case of suspected symptoms is to get them checked out right away, prevention is always better than cure. So if you notice your child has pain or stiffness or even any swelling, do take him or her to the doctor to check whether your child is suffering from juvenile arthritis.