In the U.S. we have nearly 50,000 children who are affected by Juvenile idiopathic arthritis. JIA is often called juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) in the U.S. There are a few names for specific forms of arthritis which include: systemic onset JIA or Still’s disease, oligoarticular JIA (which affects fewer than 5 joints), polyarticular JIA (which affects five or more joints), enthesitis-realted and psoriatic arthritis.
Signs and symptoms of Juvenile Arthritis often go unnoticed like swollen joints, fever, sudden rashes for example. Symptoms may come and go before showing up again, which can delay a diagnosis because many people don't think that children can get arthritis.
The different forms of arthritis have varying life spans and symptoms, but JIA is a little different. according to curearthritis.org, “…JIA is different – it’s an autoimmune disease that has the body actually warring with itself in its efforts to recover. While juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder, much like the adult version of rheumatoid arthritis, recent arthritis research shows that JIA stands alone, independent in how it actually attacks and affects a child’s body.”
Juvenile arthritis can occur in children as young as 6 months and as old as 18 years old. Learn more and spread the awareness today, check out where we got this information!