Juvenile arthritis, unknown and painful disease

BBC / United States

Malachi Neat is 14 years old and his dream is to enter the British Navy. However, he fears that this will not become reality because of his juvenile arthritis in his eyes.

I do not think anyone will look at me and say: Oh, he has arthritis in his eyes. This is not something that is noticed on the outside. I see myself as a normal, healthy young man. But inside, he feels pain.

Eyes are just one of many manifestations of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), a condition caused by the immune system of children under the age of 16 who inflame their joints, according to Debajit Sen, Infant rheumatologist and co-director of the London-based Center for Youth Rheumatology

There are subtypes of JIA in which the manifestation in the eyes is not uncommon. In fact, between 30% and 50% of children with this disease have symptoms in their eyes, says Dr. Sen in statements to BBC World.

One of the essential things to do is to do regular ophthalmic examinations to patients, the specialist urges. The word arthritis means inflammation of the joints. But in children, unlike adults, its cause is unknown.

His main symptoms are pain, swelling, and heat in the joints in episodes that last at least six weeks, according to Dr. Sen told the BBC. 19659002] The JIA is more common than you think. In the United States, for example, nearly 300,000 children suffer from a form of juvenile arthritis. And in the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) estimates that there are 15,000 young people and children suffering from this disease.