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Juvenile Arthritis
Questions and Answers about Juvenile Arthritis (Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Other Forms of Arthritis Affecting Children)
What Is Juvenile Arthritis?
"Arthritis" means joint
inflammation. This term refers to a group of diseases that cause pain,
swelling, stiffness, and loss of motion in the joints. Arthritis is also used more
generally to describe the more than 100 rheumatic diseases that may
affect the joints but can also cause pain, swelling, and stiffness in
other supporting structures of the body such as muscles, tendons,
ligaments, and bones. Some rheumatic diseases can affect other parts of
the body, including various internal organs. Juvenile arthritis (JA) is a term often
used to describe arthritis in children. Children
can develop almost all types of arthritis that affect adults, but
the most common type that affects children is juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
Both juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and juvenile
rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) are classification
systems for chronic arthritis in children. The JRA
classification system was developed about 30 years ago and had three
different subtypes. More recently, pediatric rheumatologists throughout
the world developed the JIA classification system, which includes more
types of chronic arthritis that affect children.
This classification system also provides a more accurate separation of
the three JRA subtypes.
Prevalence statistics for JA vary, but according to a 2008 report from
the National Arthritis Data Workgroup,1 about
294,000 children age 0 to 17 are affected with arthritis or other rheumatic
conditions.
1 According to the National Arthritis Data Workgroup, the
actual number of new cases of JA is higher than previously reported
because the statistic includes conditions not previously captured, as
cited in Helmick CG, Felson DT, Lawrence RC, Gabriel S, Hirsch R, Kwoh
CK, et al. National Arthritis Data Workgroup.
Estimates of the prevalence of arthritis and other rheumatic
conditions in the United States. Part I. Arthritis & Rheumatism,
58(1):15-25, January 2008.
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