Kasper

Addison Kasper

Professor Freeland

English 1201-505

20 March 2022

Literature Review

The question being researched is How arthritis is different in kids and adults. When

talking about arthritis, people automatically think of elderly. Most people do not know how

prevalent this disease is in children as well as adults. Although the disease can be found in all

age groups, it is not entirely the same for everyone. The main purpose of this research is to learn

more about the disease in each age group and see how they vary.

Arthritis can be traced back to prehistoric times. Some may even say some dinosaurs

suffered from conditions similar to human arthritis. As well as evidence found in Native

American remains of the disease. The disease had not coined the name ¨arthritis¨ quite yet

though. Primarily before the 1600's, the disease was rare but after the Age of Exploration the

disease became more prevalent and diagnosable. It was not officially named until 1859

( Mandal). On the other hand, juvenile arthritis wasn't discovered until much later in 1896. This

disease did not get the proper recognition separate from rheumatoid arthritis in adults till a lot

later, almost 1970. At this point, there were still minimal doctors and treatment for the condition.

Today, juvenile arthritis is not as common as arthritis in adults but continues to get more

recognition. Both conditions have evolved greatly from when they were first discovered.

There are so many types of arthritis. Some of them include Juvenile idiopathic

arthritis,Osteoarthritis, Psoriatic arthritis, Reactive arthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis,

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Septic arthritis. The one thing all of these types of arthritis have in common is that they all have

to do with some type of joint inflammation and pain. The three most common types are

Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and in children, Juvenile idiopathic arthritis. These three

arthritis have some things in common, but are not the same. This holds contexts to the question

because so many people do not know there are so many different types. People only usually

think of osteoarthritis so it is very important to inform other types.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis is an autoimmune disease, just like rheumatoid arthritis. An

autoimmune disease is where the body overworks and attacks itself. The body treats its own cells

like they are foreign (Huff). The body's immune system then destroys the healthy body tissues

which leads to inflammation. This happens in both JIA and rheumatoid arthritis in adults. The

autoimmune disease is very hard to diagnose. No single test can determine if a person has it or

not. One blood test that can show signs of arthritis is the body's white blood cell count. If it is

elevated this can signal inflammation in the body. This inflammation can damage multiple joints

throughout the body. Huff says that the cause of the disease is still unknown, but could have

something to do with genetics and viruses. The disease does not have a cure. Treatment does not

include braces and other things like that, the treatment for this disease is most commonly

medicine. Some of these medicines have their risks because they suppress the immune system.

Rheumatoid arthritis is very similar to JIA but happens in different age groups. JIA is

basically rheumatoid arthritis but in children. The one distinct difference between the two is that

children often outgrow JIA, not in every case though. On the other hand, rheumatoid arthritis is

chronic and lasts a lifetime (Hopkins Medicine). Another difference is that the disease is more

likely to affect bone development in children. Other than that the two diseases are both

autoimmune and share many symptoms and treatments in common.

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Osteoarthritis is the type of arthritis found in elderly. The disease is the wearing down of

protective tissue such as cartilage. Kapoor says “Risk factors that may increase the risk of

developing OA are age, gender, joint injury or overuse caused by physical labor or sports,

obesity, and joint alignment etc (Kapoor). The disease is progressive, therefore it gets worse as

time goes on. Symptoms include joint pain, limitation of motion, stiffness after inactivity,

tenderness, crepitus, and joint enlargement and these symptoms are most commonly found in the

knees, hips, ankle, elbow, shoulder, hand, wrist and spine. Osteoarthritis management is

currently based on a wide spectrum of therapeutic options to relieve pain, but other OA drugs

with disease modifying properties (DMOADs) are being developed (Kapoor). The drugs being

developed Targeting cartilage changes, subchondral bone remodeling, and synovial

inflammation.

From this research it is very apparent that the two types of arthritis are significantly

different. Osteoarthritis is the “old people” arthritis, while Juvenile idiopathic arthritis is found in

children. The most significant difference is that JIA is an autoimmune disease, while

osteoarthritis is arthritis that just happens when someone gets older or runs down. The diseases

share common symptoms but that is the only similarity that is consistent throughout both.

Further research that could be important would be why the diseases have similar names when

they are not the same thing and also why arthritis is so much more common in old people than in

kids.
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Bibliography

“Arthritis.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 15 Sept. 2021,

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/arthritis/symptoms-causes/syc-

20350772.

Huff, Charlotte. “Juvenile Arthritis: Beyond Growing Pains: The Body Treats Its Own Cells as

If They Are Foreign Invaders, Setting off Inflammation That Can Damage the Tissue

Lining in Joints, Such as Shoulder, Ankle, and Hip Joints, and Ultimately the Joins

Themselves.” Current Health 2, a Weekly Reader Publication, vol. 35, no. 7, Mar. 2009,

p. 22. EBSCOhost,

“Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.” Johns Hopkins Medicine, 5 Apr. 2021,

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/arthritis/juvenile-

idiopathic-arthritis#:~:text=Arthritis%20 causes%20 joint%20swelling

%20(inflammation,lifetime%2C%20children%20 often%20outgrow%20 JIA.

Kapoor, Mohit, and Nizar N. Mahomed. Osteoarthritis : Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, Available

Treatments, Drug Safety, Regenerative and Precision Medicine. Adis, 2015. EBSCOhost,

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=cat01128a&AN=scc.b1697382&site=eds-live.
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Mandal, Dr. Ananya. “Arthritis History.” News, 29 May 2019,

https://www.news-medical.net/health/Arthritis-History.aspx.