Young people with arthritis make treatment decisions based on how the treatment will affect their appearance, social life and physical and mental well-being, says new research. The small study, which will be presented at the British Society for Rheumatology’s conference Rheumatology 2014, suggests that young people are concerned about whether treatments could threaten their day-to-day life.

Inflammatory arthritis can need aggressive treatment including the use of biologic therapies. For young people, making these crucial treatment decisions comes at a difficult time in their personal and disease development. It is vital that the right decision is made because these decisions can have major consequences. Continue reading →

Over one-third of diagnoses of juvenile idiopathic arthritis are delayed – by up to two years after the onset of symptoms – by GPs or paediatricians, outlines a report from the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society.

JIA is an inflammatory disease which causes chronic arthritis in children and young people and affects approximately 12,000 children (1 in 1000) under the age of 16 years. The severity of arthritis can vary from mild to extremely disabling and symptoms include stiff, painful and swollen joints. JIA is associated with other complications such as blindness which results from uncontrolled inflammation around the lens of the eye and can also significantly delay physical development in the very young, cause permanent joint damage and deformity and delay puberty. Continue reading →