It is estimated that as many as 24,000 Canadian children aged 18 and under live with a form of arthritis. This translates to approximately 3 in every 1000 Canadian children suffering from joint pain.
Christine Bilsky, the Education Specialist for the London Arthritis Society, describes Juvenile Arthritis as an autoimmune disease. She says, “Juvenile Arthritis can refer to the body attacking its own healthy cells and tissues. In turn, arthritis results from ongoing inflammation in four steps. The steps being that joints become; inflamed, stiffen, suffer damage, and joint growth is changed.”
Bilsky says that in some cases, symptoms of Juvenile Arthritis are mild and do not progress to more severe joint disease and deformities. Though in severe cases, Juvenile Arthritis can produce serious joint and tissue damage, which can result in problems with bone development and growth.
“The symptoms and nature of Childhood Arthritis vary greatly. Traditionally, a child complaining of occasional achy joints was dismissed as having ‘growing pains’, a vague phenomenon believed to be the result of the natural growth process. However, symptoms are far more severe, including pain in various joints, stiffness, and swelling. For example, a very young child may struggle to perform normal movements or activities that they recently learned, like holding a spoon. As a result, they may even experience fevers, rashes, weight loss and vision problems,” said Bilsky.
Bilsky stresses that the quality of life in children living with Juvenile Arthritis is greatly impacted. Children can often miss school due to severity of pain and struggle to perform daily tasks such as brushing their hair or tying their shoes. If Juvenile Arthritis progresses far enough, some children may even need joint replacements.
“For those who have kids struggling with Childhood Arthritis, I want them to know that there are ways that they can help alleviate the symptoms. Physiotherapy and occupational therapy can help relieve pain through exercises that are used to stretch soft tissues and build up muscles. Along with this, healthy eating, sleeping and exercise can all help to improve general health,” said Bilsky.
Exciting news from @sickkids. Using a computer-based approach monitoring children with #arthritis, researchers have been able to accurately predict which children will go into remission faster and which ones will develop a more severe form of disease. https://t.co/p0Ldi9AvxZ
— Arthritis Society Canada (@ArthritisSoc) February 28, 2019
Aside from these methods, Bilsky says that the most important part of any treatment plan for Juvenile Arthritis is medication. She says, “Over the counter medication can be used to reduce inflammation. Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs [DMARDs], such as Methotrexate, is common to relieve symptoms and biologics are a new class of drugs developed to slow or stop the progress of the disease.”
Bilsky encourages parents to use resources made available that can help both children and parents cope with the symptoms and effects of Juvenile Arthritis.
For more information on Juvenile Arthritis visit the Arthritis Society’s Support and Education page.
*Photo Credit: The Arthritis Society*
