World Arthritis Day 2020

Why is World Arthritis Day important?

Because it is our chance to tell the world that children get arthritis too!

Arthritis is not just a few aches and pains. Arthritis is not just what older people get. Babies, toddlers, children and young people can all get arthritis.

It is a painful, debilitating disease and delayed diagnosis and treatment can cause permanent damage to joints. A child may go from being healthy and active to struggling to walk, or even get out of bed. The pain is often accompanied by swelling in a joint or multiple joints. In fact, if a child or young person is struggling to do something that they could previously do, we would encourage parents, carers and medical professionals to #ThinkJIA and question whether it could be Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis known as JIA. There is more information about this on our campaign site at www.thinkJIA.org

JIA affects around 1 in 1,000 children under the age of 16.

Scientists don’t yet fully understand what causes it but what we DO know is that by increasing awareness that arthritis can affect children, it increases the likelihood of a faster diagnosis and this leads to prompt treatment.

With effective treatment, outcomes are far better for children with arthritis. In many cases going on to lead full and active lives.

1 in 5 children with JIA also suffer with a condition called uveitis. This is inflammation of part of the eye. There are often no obvious symptoms and so the best way to detect it is via regular eye checks with an eye consultant. Your rheumatology team or local paediatrician should be able to refer you but if they don’t, please ask about it. Left untreated, uveitis can cause permanent loss of sight.

So this World Arthritis Day on 12 October, will you help spread the word that children get arthritis too! You can share any of our awareness raising images on social media or download and share our Instagram stories template if your child has been affected by JIA.

Who are Juvenile Arthritis Research?

If you would like to find out more about who we are, and our three core aims of research, awareness and support, please visit our About Us page.