It might be helpful to you to have a conversation with your child’s doctor to better understand how they are using the lab test results, and this might help you feel more comfortable that you don’t need to concentrate only on the numbers, and in understanding how medication decision-making happens. For most of the [...]
Recently, a group of Canadian pediatric rheumatologists, pediatric ophthalmologists and patients and parents have been working together to develop standardized approaches for monitoring and treating children with uveitis associated with JIA. It was felt important to develop standardized approaches because there is some variability in how children with JIA uveitis are managed. The specific [...]
While the doctors can diagnose and monitor uveitis and prescribe medical treatments, it is essential for everyone on the care team, which includes parents and the patient, to recognize that, depending on the severity of the uveitis, other facets of the child's life can be affected. If parents realize that there can be effects [...]
This is an excellent question and one which has been addressed by the committees in Canada and the United States which are developing standardized guidelines for treatment. The answer about the duration of Pred Forte treatment, which is steroid drop treatment, depends somewhat on the severity of the uveitis, the dose of the Pred [...]
The uveal tract, which is the middle layer of the eye, is that part of the eye that becomes inflamed in uveitis. As shown in the figure the uveal tract extends from the very back of the eye to the very front, ending as the iris (the colored part of the eye surrounding the pupil). [...]
The course and outcomes of uveitis, including uveitis associated with juvenile arthritis, are variable; some children will have ongoing lingering disease activity and others can go into long-term control (remission). At the present time we can make decisions about treatments based on experiences from large groups of patients with similar conditions. However, the conclusions [...]
We don't have enough information to answer this question precisely but it is almost certainly true that with early diagnosis, careful monitoring and use of new medications the possibility of permanent remission increases. I wouldn't say children can "outgrow" uveitis exactly but with proper treatment the abnormal process that gives rise to the uveitis [...]
At the present time we can make decisions about treatments based on experiences from large groups of patients with similar conditions. However, the conclusions we make about the diseases and the treatments from studying the group as a whole do not always precisely apply to individual patients within the group; there is considerable variable [...]
Assessing the microbiome is a complex, laboratory-based process. Doctors cannot effectively assess the microbiome by asking the patient questions or by findings on a physical examination. To effectively assess the intestinal microbiome a stool sample needs to be collected and processed in the laboratory so that the molecular and genetic characteristics of the bacteria [...]
This is a fascinating question and one for which there is accumulating but still minimal information. There is some evidence that maternal use of antibiotics either before or during pregnancy or at the time of labor might result in changes in the microbiome of the child born to that mother. There have been no [...]
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