Outlook Improving for Kids with Juvenile Arthritis

Many people aren't aware that arthritis is a big problem for children. However, Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA) is the third most common chronic childhood illness, affecting almost 300,000 children in the United States.

Symptoms of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis typically include pain, stiffness and swelling, and severe cases can cause growth disorders. Laura Schanberg, M.D., co-chief of the division of pediatric rheumatology at Duke University Medical Center, says the illness is not the same as the more common form of rheumatoid arthritis in adults.

"Children with arthritis are only about 10 percent positive for the rheumatoid factor, the test that diagnoses this condition in adults," she says. "Also, about 50 percent of juvenile arthritis goes away over time, which doesn't happen in adults. Kids can suffer a great deal of disability or joint damage before it goes away, however. So we need to be as aggressive as we can in treating it, not just sit around and wait for it to go away. We use all the medications at our disposal to try and prevent any long-term disability."

Schanberg says medications commonly used today include non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, such as ibuprofen, as well disease-modifying anti-inflammatory drugs such as methotrexate. She also mentions ongoing studies of newer biologic agents, in particular anti-tumor necrosis factor medications such as etanercept and infliximab.

"There are a lot of new drugs that are now available and still more that are coming down the pike," says Schanberg. "We're really able now, as opposed to 20 years ago, to significantly improve the life and outcome of children with arthritis."

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