Schools are able to accommodate for a child with JIA to allow them to participate in PE classes. The teacher should be made aware that the child may need to sit out of some or all activities from time to time when there is a flare of arthritis or symptoms are worse. At other [...]
Children with JIA have, from time to time, a number of valid reasons to be excused from participation in PE or gym class. Children with JIA can have increased aches and pains in muscles or joints that make participation in certain types of physical activity (e.g. running, jumping) difficult. Other times, stiffness or restriction [...]
Yes! Physical activity is key to healthy development of children, including those with JIA. Current Canadian guidelines recommend that children aged 5-17 years of age participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity per day. For at least three of these days the activities should promote muscle and bone strength. PE classes [...]
An excellent book is Your Child with Arthritis: A Family Guide for Caregiving by Dr. Lori B. Tucker, Bethany A. DeNardo, Dr. Judith A. Stebulis, and Dr. Jane G. Schaller.
Children with arthritis are not just kids with an adult disease. Although the drugs and therapies used to treat children are similar, the intensity of treatment and the frequency of follow-ups need to be much greater. Unlike for adults with arthritis for example, physical growth may be stunted, children may grow one leg longer [...]
This is very difficult to predict at the outset, and to some extent, it depends on the type of JIA. In a small number of children, the disease may last as little as several months to a year and disappear forever. Most children, however, have an up-and–down course with “flares” and “remissions” for many [...]
Arthritis is diagnosed by examination of the child by a doctor who has specialized training (or experience) in childhood rheumatic diseases. Preliminary evaluation should be by the family doctor or pediatrician, but the final diagnosis is ideally made by a pediatric rheumatologist. There are no blood tests or x-rays to confirm a diagnosis but [...]
A child with arthritis may have an obviously swollen joint, or he/she is stiff when waking up and might walk with a limp, or may have trouble using an arm or leg. Children do not always complain of pain because they may adjust the way they do things so that it hurts less, or [...]
JIA is not the same as rheumatoid arthritis! In the United States, some forms of childhood arthritis are still somewhat inaccurately referred to as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis or JRA even though the pattern of arthritis and the short-term and long-term effects of most types of juvenile arthritis are completely different from rheumatoid arthritis in [...]
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis is the newest and preferred terminology to describe chronic arthritis in children. Idiopathic means unknown cause or spontaneous origin. The disease is also sometimes referred to as juvenile arthritis (JA) or juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). Children under 17 years of age who develop inflammation in a joint (usually with swelling and/or [...]
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