Arthritis strikes also the children

Arthritis strikes also the children

Infantile arthritis rhumatoïde, called sometimes youthful arthritis, touches a Canadian child of less than 16 years over 1000. According to these statistics, this disorder is more current than the cystic fibrosis and the diabetes.

In general, a youthful diagnosis of arthritis is posed if the signs and the symptoms of arthritis (puffiness, redness, stiffness and feeling of heat in the articulations) are present during more than six weeks. Certain children do not feel a pain but the amplitude of their movements becomes increasingly limited as the articular stiffness is accentuated – the intensity of the symptoms can vary much from one child to another. Although this type of arthritis can touch any articulation, it settles mainly in the knees, the feet and the hands. Fortunately, this form tends to disappear as the children grow.

There exist three kinds of youthful arthritis: the form oligoarticulaire, the form polyarticulaire and the systemic form.

The form oligoarticulaire, most current, touches 50% of the children reached of youthful arthritis. Four articulations at most are touched, usually the large articulations (like those of the hips and the knees). The diagnosis is generally posed for the girls of less than eight years.

The form polyarticulaire is classified second in term of frequency, concerning approximately 30% of the children reached of youthful chronic arthritis. More serious than the oligo-articular form, it appears in at least five articulations, especially the small ones (like those of the hands and the feet).

Approximately 20% of the children are reached third form, the systemic youthful arthritis, which can persist until the adulthood. In addition to the typical symptoms of arthritis, it causes fever and can influence the internal bodies, like the liver and the heart.

In the treatment of the youthful chronic arthritis, the doctors especially try to maintain mobility articular in order to allow the children to remain active to be able to benefit as much as possible from the life. The drugs used to treat the polyarthritis rhumatoïde of the adult are often recommended. Physiotherapy also plays a big role, because it helps to keep the articulations as flexible as possible.