Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis or JRA is an arthritic condition specifically in children but with a lot of similarities with the condition that afflicts adults. There are cases of short term and long term juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Short term cases may last just a few months and then disappear altogether while long term cases may last well into adulthood and turn to rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis symptoms in adults are somewhat similar to those in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis but there are also some differences which set these two apart. There are basically three different types of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, namely oligoarticular JRA, which affects four or less joints in the child's body, polyarticular JRA, which affects five or more joints in the body and usually more common in girls than boys and the last kind, which is systemic JRA, which has similar symptoms to adult rheumatoid arthritis.

Symptoms Of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is basically due to the white blood cells (the body's auto immune system) getting confused regarding which cells to attack and protect the body from. The result of this confusion or mixed signals is the white blood cells attacking joint tissues and other tissues close to it. This makes the tissues around the joints inflamed because there is an over production of synovial fluid which causes tenderness, redness and some degree of pain in the affected areas. Swelling and tenderness is an expected outcome of the condition and the swelling may last for several hours to some days. Areas commonly affected by juvenile rheumatoid arthritis are the knees, fingers and wrists but this does not mean that other joints are excluded from the effects of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

Another common symptom of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is the appearance of rashes. Rashes may appear in one area and then eventually disappear only to crop up in another area. The interval of the appearance and disappearance of the rashes will depend on the degree of the condition in the child. Elevated fevers which may actually spike during nighttime may be a symptom of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis but there are so many conditions that manifest spiking fever at night that this may not be a conclusive symptom unless other symptoms are also present. It may be helpful to note that most of the fevers from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis may also disappear suddenly which is not a common occurrence unless medication is given. Still, it is not wise to base the diagnosis on this symptom alone.