Material provided by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. You may visit their website at www.nih.com.

• Email Page
• Print
• RSS
• Discuss

What Is Arthritis?

Arthritis means joint inflammation, and it refers to a group of diseases that cause pain, swelling, stiffness, and loss of motion in the joints.

Arthritis is often used as a more general term to refer to the more than 100 rheumatic diseases that may affect the joints but can also cause pain, swelling, and stiffness in other supporting structures of the body (such as muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones). Some rheumatic diseases can affect other parts of the body, including various internal organs.

Children can develop almost all types of arthritis that affect adults, but the most common type of arthritis that affects children is juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis is increasingly being used by the medical community in recognition of the fact that JRA has several subtypes. Juvenile idopathic arthritis better encapsulates this than JRA does.

What Is Juvenile idiopathic Arthritis?
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is arthritis that causes joint inflammation and stiffness for more than 6 weeks in a child of 16 years of age or less. Inflammation causes redness, swelling, warmth, and soreness in the joints, although many children with JIA do not complain of joint pain. Any joint can be affected, and inflammation may limit the mobility of affected joints.