Systemic juvenile arthritis is sometimes called by a different name by doctors.  This name is “Still’s disease.”  Only about 10%, maybe 20%, of children who have arthritis have this type of arthritis. Children who have systemic juvenile arthritis have a lot of signs to watch for.  They have swollen joints that give them pain.  This pain means that there is something wrong inside of the child’s body.

 

Usually the pain is the worst in the morning because of the stiffness that comes from sleeping.  The pain and swelling come after a two-week fever.  This fever is really bad in the afternoons and evenings.

 

Some of these children also have a pink rash on their thighs and lower bodies.  This rash may come and go.  Since it is not always there, parents need to be sure that they see it when it is there so that they can tell their child’s doctor.  It can also be helpful for the doctor to know what was going on before this rash was seen on the child’s body.  There are also times when this fever and rash may go on for a couple of years before the child gets swollen joints and pain.  However, this joint pain and swelling has to be present for at least six weeks before a doctor will diagnose a child with Systemic arthritis.

 

 

A child with this condition may also have low back pain.  These children may limp or refuse to use an arm or leg because they say that it hurts.  For this reason, children who use to be very active may now be very inactive.  Sometimes this is because these children are anemic.  This means that there are low levels of the red blood cells that carry oxygen into the child’s body.  Anemia will make the child weak and tired.

 

 

There are also other parts inside of the body that can be affected.  These are the child’s immune system and internal organs.  The organs that are affected most are the heart, spleen and liver.

 

Another problem that these children have is with their eyes.  Their eyes can become very irritated.  These children can also get eye diseases.  One of these eye diseases is called iritis.  This is when the black part of the eye becomes very irritated.  Another of these eye diseases is called uveitis.  This is when the middle part of the eye becomes very irritated.  A child will not have any big problems with their eyes before they get Systemic arthritis.

 

Doctors will sometimes do a blood test on these children, to check for this disability.  The doctors are looking for rheumatoid factor.  This is what a person who has rheumatoid arthritis has.  They are also looking for antinuclear antibody.  This is something that happens when the body attacks its own organs.  Doctors know that a child with Systemic arthritis will not have either of these things in their blood.  Other things that doctors will do whenever they are diagnosing a child is take X-rays, do a good exam, and really look at the child’s past medical history.

 

A lot of doctors also believe that this disorder is caused by an allergy to something that the child is eating.  The most common allergy that these children have is milk and milk products.  This is because milk has something in it called casein.  This is a protein that is found inside of milk.  It can also be found in nondairy products too.  Casein can make a person be stiff, sore and have headaches.  A lot of times, when these children give up milk and milk products they no longer feel stiff, sore, or have headaches.

 

Something else that can irritate these children is gluten.  Gluten is found in wheat, barley, rye and oats (typically through processing cross-contamination).  Other common food allergies for these children are corn and some things that are added to food, especially MSG and Aspartame.  MSG is a type of salt.  Aspartame is a kind of fake sugar.

 

The reason that doctors believe that Systemic arthritis is caused by allergies to food is because all of the joints of the body are involved.  This means that there cannot be a physical reason for this and so it is a chemical reason.

 

Most of the time this will not change into rheumatoid arthritis later on.  However, if these problems are not taken care of in children, then these children will have these problems throughout their life.  If these children are taken care of, then most of the time they will not have any problems when they grow up.

 

 

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