Arthritis affects hundreds of thousands of children

By Nicole Boone
WBTW News13 Anchor
Published: August 5, 2008

When you think of arthritis, you probably don’t think about children.  But hundreds of thousands of children nationwide suffer with different forms on the condition.

14-year old twins, Ashley and Emily Matthews of Kansas, suffer from arthritis.  Their mother, Sherry, says it’s hard to see her children suffer.  “It’s been hard. You don’t want to be the one to cause that pain on your child. You don’t want to see them go through that. You want them to have a normal life.“

When the twins were 5,  Sherry noticed something wasn’t right.  Ashley says she and her sister also knew they were struggling.  “Emily would be playing with her friends and I wouldn’t be able to. I just seemed tired. I wouldn’t want to be on the floor and if I did I couldn’t get up.“

It took doctors months to determine the twins had arthritis.  Dr. Steen Mortensen treat arthritis patients.  “ It’s very difficult. Parents have a real bad break when they first discover because they don’t want to believe it and they don’t know what’s going on.“ says Dr. Mortensen.

The Matthews twins have dermatamyositis.  It’s a form of arthritis that weakens muscles and can cause skin rashes.

Dr. Mortensen says ten percent of his clients are children.  “They’re treatable. Readily treatable in rheumatology is an oxymoron because different people respond differently.“ 

There are only a handful of pediatric rheumatologists in the country to help children wtih arthritis.  Some of those specialists are at MUSC in Charleston.  To find out more about this condition, such as symptoms and treatment options, log onto  
http://www.muschealth.com/gs/HealthTopic.aspx?action=showpage&pageid=P01714.