Health Watch: Juvenile Arthritis

When we think of arthritis, we tend to think of the elderly, not young children. However, thousands of youngsters live with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis everyday. Some get better over time, and others continue to have problems well into adulthood. Here is more about this condition, found in tonight's Health Watch Report.

You would not know it by looking at her, that 7-year-old Kaylee Adams suffers from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

"When she was about 20 months old she had fallen and sprained her finger. We thought it was just a sprain and nine months later we got a diagnosis," said Kaylees mom Kim Adams.

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis affects about one in every thousand children. The good news is most of the cases are mild. According to Dr. Barry Myones, a pediatrician, it can affect one or more joints, as well as the eyes, and the pain is usually at its peak in the morning.

"They can't move if the weather changes, if the barometric pressure changes, or if it gets cold. Sometimes the stiffness can last all day long," said Myones.

Not only does the disease put a damper on certain activities for kids, but it can also affect them emotionally because they are not like all the other kids.

"Kids will become depressed, and that causes problems with their development and interaction with their peers, as well as interaction within the family, and there's a lot of family stress," said Myones.

A new generation of biological modifier medications that block specific immunological signals with regards to the disease have made living with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis much easier for patients.

Kaylee's daily dose of medication not only allows her to be active with her little sister, but it also puts her mother's mind at ease.

"My first thought after we got the diagnosis we went to a seminar and there were people my age in wheelchairs, and crippled, and we thought was going to be our future. But the medications nowadays are amazing," said Adams.

Between 80 to 90 percent of children will eventually grow out of their condition, however, the small percentage that do not, can sustain long-term problems, such as permanent cartilage damage or joint deformities.

If you would like more medical news, visit our health partners Web sites:

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center:http://www.mdanderson.org/

The Mayo Clinic: http://www.medicaledge.org

Baylor College of Medicine:http://public.bcm.tmc.edu/