Treating Juvenile Arthritis
by Anne Kelly, KFYR-TV
Posted on 1/20/2009
Picture by KFYR-TV |
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Arthritis is usually associated with adults and the elderly, but some children get it too, and complications it can cause are often far more severe. It`s estimated one in every 250 children lives with some sort of arthritic condition. For some children, the condition affects a joint or two, but for others it can affect far more.
Paige Robinson loves to dance, plays volleyball, and is working on mastering the Wii Fit. Few would guess this nine-year-old is suffering from arthritis, also known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. When Paige was just six, her parents noticed she had swollen ankles and an ongoing limp. They say it took months to get a diagnosis.
“We went to the doctors a few times and they said it was just growing pains,” says Paige`s father, Chris Robinson. “It would feel like someone was grabbing at the back of my leg, like pinching it,” says Paige. “It would hurt.”
After being diagnosed the Robinsons found out swollen ankle joints were just a minor symptoms for some children living with arthritis. “The bloodwork came back and they said `Yes she does have arthritis,` and then now you need to make an appointment with an eye doctor and Chris both were thinking `Why an eye doctor?,`” says Bobbie Robinson, Paige`s mother.
Because as they soon found out, about 15-percent of kids with arthritis don`t only have swollen joints, but swollen eyes, and can lose their vision as a result.
“We think that part of the protein that is part of the makeup of the collagen in the eyes is the same like in the joint and so they mistakenly attack the joints and the eyes at the same time,” says Dr. Nowarat Songsiridej, a rheumatologist, at St. Alexius. “I would have never guessed her eyes were giving her problems,” says Bobbie.
But they were. Doctors put her on heavy medications right away to reduce the swelling and save her vision. A cataract surgery and years of medications later and Paige`s eyes are slowly improving, although doctors say much of the damage already done cannot be corrected by glasses or surgery. Instead, time is the key factor in her recovery. Her ankles have already healed, now Paige and her family are hoping her eyes will too.
Most children with juvenile arthritis go into remission several years after being diagnosed and actually don`t have arthritis as adults.
