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As the name implies, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is a type of arthritis that primarily affects the young. Children as young as six months can be diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. In the United States, approximately 75,000 young people have this debilitating condition.

Like rheumatoid arthritis in adults, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is essentially an autoimmune disease. This is a syndrome whereby the body produces antibodies that attack its own joint tissues. Currently, medical researchers have not determined that exact cause of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. However, there are several theories as to how juvenile rheumatoid arthritis can happen.

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is a collective disease. The three identified forms are pauciarticular, polyarticular and systemic. In pouciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, a child may suffer from inflammation in few joints such as the knee and shoulder. If it is polyarticular, then many joints get inflamed simultaneously, for example knees, wrists, elbows, and so on. Polyarticular rheumatoid arthritis attacks symmetrically; for example, the joints of the left and right hand become inflammation at the same time.

There are three major types of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and it usually takes 6 months to determine the type a child suffers from. These three types are:Pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis; Polyarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis; Systemic onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

Polyarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis occurs when swelling is present in at least five joints throughout the body. Most of the affected joints are those described as weight bearing joints, which include joints in the hands, neck, hips, knees, and ankles. Weight bearing joints are those that receive the brunt of the pressure and weight that is endured by the body.

Pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis refers to a form of the disease that tends to affect four or less joints. Pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis symptoms include selling, stiffness, discomfort or severe pain around the afflicted joints. Most often, pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis affects the joints of the wrist and knee. A key distinguishing feature of pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is that it may also affect the eyes. The iris may become inflamed. In most cases, ophthalmologists are often among the first to diagnose cases of pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

Systemic onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is the least common but affects both boys and girls alike. It is associated with inflammation of the internal organs. Symptoms may include daily fever as high as 103 degree and above, lasting for weeks or months. Inflammation and joint pain may, or may not, accompany the fever initially, but may appear months later.