Childhood arthritis is not a myth
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis affects 1 in 1,000 Canadian children making it one of the most common childhood diseases. However, its existence is not well known. Dr. Ciaran Duffy, Director, Division of Rheumatology at The Montreal Children’s Hospital of the MUHC is working to dispel the following myths about juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
Myth number one: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis goes away when children reach adulthood.
Canadian research has shown that up to 50% of children with mild forms of JIA and 70% of children with severe forms continue to suffer from the disease in adult years. However, these studies were conducted with patients whose disease was diagnosed in the 1980s when current advanced treatments were not available. Today, thanks to research, we are able to diagnose and treat the disease aggressively soon after its onset, and because of this, we hope that this leads to better recovery for affected children, the rheumatology team at The Montreal Children’s Hospital is involved in ongoing pan-canadian research to evaluate how children diagnosed and treated in recent years do in the short and long-term. We hope to predict using genetic analysis which children with JIA will achieve remission earlier.
Myth number two: All children with arthritis can participate in gym class like all other children.
12-01-06 - The Montreal Children's Hospital
