Nine-year-old Seema (name changed) suffered five years of pain, both mental and physical, and was bedridden after she was affected with juvenile arthritis. Her parents didn’t think she would ever lead a normal life. Arthritis doesn’t just affect the elderly. In the young though, timely and correct diagnosis and treatment can help the affected lead a normal life, says Dr Anand Rao, consultant in paediatric rheumatology at Manipal Hospital.
Seema was just five years old when she first showed symptoms of juvenile arthritis, which her parents did not recognise as such. “After consulting several doctors in the city, Seema was brought to Manipal hospital in October 2011 with a history of pain and swelling in all her major joints and small joints of her hands and feet, for the past five years. She had difficulty in sleeping at night. She had stopped attending school as she was almost bedridden,” said Dr Anand, who treated her. Seema was mentally affected as well. She had stopped playing with other children and was almost in a state of depression. She kept asking when she was going to be well and her distressed parents had no answer.
At the paediatric rheumatology clinic at Manipal Hospital she was diagnosed with Polyarticular juvenile arthritis (arthritis involving the elbows, wrists, small joints of hands, knees and ankles). “We started Seema’s treatment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs along with methotrexate,” said Dr Anand, naming the most effective and commonly used medicines in the treatment of several forms of arthritis and other rheumatic conditions. She has been under treatment for a year now. “She started showing a dramatic response within two months. She also had two sets of steroids under sedation and is doing well. She has resumed school and plays like a normal kid, cheerfully. However Seema’s treatment will go on for a couple of years,” Dr Anand said.