YES, CHILDREN GET ARTHRITIS TOO; MARCH 2-8 IS JUVENILE ARTHRITIS AWARENESS WEEK

Children with arthritis should not be isolated from other children of the same age.

Watching a child go from a rambunctious, always on the move, 2-year-old to a first grader who is unable to climb a slide, play kickball or join a circle group on the floor is no easy task for any parent. Finding ways to get these youngsters to understand what is happening to their bodies may be even more difficult.

Add to this the often cruel remarks of peers and you might have a small idea of what families and victims of juvenile arthritis face.

"My son always felt like he was on the outside looking in," said one parent. "When I realized my child was going to be confined to a wheelchair, I just couldn't stop crying," said another.

What these and other parents and victims of juvenile arthritis want is not pity, but for the public to have a better understanding of the disease and the complications associated with it.

Most people define arthritis as a disease that causes inflammation of the joints in older people. This is only partially true. Arthritis affects people of all ages including some 285,000 children in the United States.

Many children with arthritis are so young when they get the disease that they have no understanding of what living without chronic pain is like.

Bonnie Walker, an active seventh grader, was just twenty months old when she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. "Bonnie was just beginning to walk, and we noticed that she seemed to prefer crawling over walking," said her mother Gina Bellis.

Bellis thought Bonnie may have injured herself when she noticed her daughter walking with a limp.

X-rays by the pediatrician showed no injuries and Bonnie was referred to an orthopedic surgeon. After several tests to rule out other diseases and conditions, she was diagnosed with JRA.

"At first only one ankle was affected, but it quickly progressed to pauciarticular JRA which affects four or fewer joints," said her mother.

By the time she was three, Bonnie was unable to walk well. She just wanted to lay around or be carried. A variety of medications were tried to help with the swelling, inflammation and pain.

Bonnie's physician, Dr. Philip Taylor, placed her on Methotrexate. "Dr. Taylor is great with Bonnie and this medicine is wonderful," said Bellis.

There are occasional flare-ups which seem to occur with major weather changes. Bonnie has to increase her physical therapy at those times to help with the symptoms and to keep her muscles strengthened.

The Arthritis Foundation has designated the week of March 2-8 as Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Week. The foundation's intention is to educate the public concerning symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.

The most common type of arthritis affecting children is juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) which accounts for nearly half of the diagnosed arthritis cases today. Chronic arthritis in children can involve more than one organ system. Medications, physical therapy and even surgery are treatment options.

Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment provide the best possibility of a favorable outcome. However, JRA can be difficult to diagnose. The signs and symptoms vary from child to child. The arthritis must be present for six or more consecutive weeks before a JRA diagnosis can be established. The particular type of arthritis is determined by the symptoms experienced during the first six months of the disease.

Helping children and families cope with a chronic, often unpredictable, and frequently painful illness of uncertain outcome is a challenge the American Juvenile Arthritis Organization (AJAO) has accepted. AJAO sponsors regional and national juvenile arthritis family conferences to help educate those affected. The organization also provides a variety of literature which is available through the Arthritis Foundation Web site or their office in Pittsfield, Maine.