The unknown and painful illness that can affect your child without you noticing

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 looks at me and says," Oh, yes, he has arthritis in his eyes. "Notice out, I see myself as a normal young person and in good health ". But inside, he feels pain.

Eyes are just one of the multiple manifestations of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), "a disease caused by the immune system of children under 16 who are burning their joints." 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 show symptoms in the eyes, "said Dr. Sen at the BBC World

One of the essential things to do is to conduct examinations regular ophthalmologic in patients, asks the specialist

. AIJ is not only visible in the eyes.

Symptoms

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 explains to BBC Mundo.

Pain, swelling and joint heat in episodes of at least six weeks are the symptoms that diagnose arthritis in children under 16 years old.

Unknown, but common

JIA is more common than previously thought. "It's been 15 years that I'm in this case and in my conversations with parents, one of the usual questions is how can this happen to my son or to my daughter, in general they think that this n & # 39; 39 "happens only to older people."

Contrary to the stereotype, arthritis does not only depend on the age and the incidence of JIA is of a out of 1,000 young people

• It is the "mathematical" reasons that explain the sound that occurs when you hit your fingers

. 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

In Latin America, the numbers are unclear.

clarify the situation, as a research project of the Pan American League of Rheumatology Associations that seeks to know the presentation characteristics, prevalence, incidence, evolution and therapeutic possibilities of the disease in the different countries of Latin America.

19659008] The JIA can begin at 6 months, although this is unlikely. The problem of early onset is how to diagnose it.

"When children are 4 years old or older, they already communicate," says the doctor. But with less of this age, it is harder for parents to recognize the symptoms.

Not only do the extremities suffer from juvenile osteoarthritis, but there are also other parts of the body. can be reached

"In general, children between 1 and 2 years old have symptoms such as walking late or not using the affected limb," explains the rheumatologist child.

In adolescents, it is easier to diagnose, but not always the manifestation This condition is evident or develops in the most common places, such as the extremities. It can also affect other parts of the body, such as the eyes.

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Malachi is under treatment and his illness is controlled, but days ago they are devastating. "The bad days, you can wake up with acute abdominal pain, headaches, completely tired, you feel very sick."

According to the Mayo Clinic in the United States, the most common symptom is drought. Neat ” width=”976″ height=”549″ data-highest-encountered-width=”624″/>

Malachie Neat looks like a normal, healthy young man, but he has juvenile arthritis in his eyes.