Sep 2, 2008 7:35 pm US/Eastern
HealthWatch: Juvenile Arthritis A Very Real Issue
If Not Found Early, Children Who Come Down With The Disease Can Face A Future Of Pain, Organ Deterioration
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Joint pain in children is usually just ignored as a normal part of growing up, but in many cases it shouldn't be. Arthritis actually strikes children too -- and is often misdiagnosed. Knowing what to look out for can save these kids years of pain.
For 10-year-old Caitlin Ryan, a simple walk down stairs can be an uphill battle.
"It feels like a sharp rock's hitting my joints really hard all the time when it's hurting," Ryan said.
Her mother says that pain is all her daughter has ever known.
"She's had to sit out things, ya know?" Colleen Ryan said. "She's more of a homebody."
When Caitlin was just 3, she was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis -- or JRA. It's an autoimmune disease characterized by joint inflammation.
"She has arthritis in all of her joints -- her fingers, toes, elbows, knees, shoulders, everything," Colleen Ryan said.
Arthritis in such a young child may seem shocking, but a recent study shows nearly 300,000 children in this country suffer from some form of the illness.
"Most people are under the impression that arthritis is mostly a disease of adults and older adults," said Dr. Norman Ilowite of the Children's Hospital at Montefiore.
The symptoms are often dismissed as growing pains:
"Swelling in a joint, limited mobility, and redness as well as heat over a joint," said Dr. Patience White of the Arthritis Foundation.
"Slowly the specialist would say it's not cancer, it's not meningitis, it's not an infectious disease," Colleen Ryan added.
The exact cause is unknown.
"We think it's both genetic as well as environmental," Dr. White said.
If the illness isn't caught early, effects including joint erosion and organ damage can be permanent.
As for Caitlin, swimming and video games help keep her joints moving. Now, she's hopeful for the future.
"I really wish I could not have arthritis for the rest of my life," she said. "That would be so cool."
For a lucky few, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis will go into remission, but most children carry the condition into adulthood.
There is no known cure, yet there are effective treatments including medication and exercise.
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