Arthritis of the spine often overlooked in children
"Many children can have arthritis of the spine for years, but it can go overlooked and untreated," said Robert Warren, M.D., one of the publication authors, chief of rheumatology services at Texas Children's Hospital and associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. ""We need to diagnose their illnesses early and provide appropriate medications and other therapy. With early diagnosis and proper treatment, a 13-year-old--who may otherwise go undiagnosed--can experience significant relief of symptoms and potentially minimize or avoid disease-related disability later in life."
The life impact study was commissioned by the Spondylitis Association of America and involved more than 2,000 ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients. Results were collected from a mail survey distributed in 2002, which gathered a range of information including analysis of work-related disability, functional impairment, self-reported quality of life and spinal involvement. Results from the study were analyzed by a team of researchers led by Dr. Millicent Stone, University of Toronto. In addition to a delay in diagnosis, the researchers report that adults with childhood onset disease experience more serious physical deformity and work-related disability than those who develop the disease as adults.
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