Arthritis can test the patience and limits of even the best of adults but when children are stricken with this autoimmune disease it feels as if nature has played a cruel joke on the  youngest among us. Over 300,000 children have some form of Juvenile Arthritis often cited as an “invisible illness.”

A large percentage of these children live with the silent pain of JA for years until they are finally diagnosed.

The Childhood Arthritis & Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) is a nationally recognized group of pediatric rheumatologists specializing in these types of childhood arthritis cases.

This group puts their collective heads together and researches different approaches to the illness and tries to answer crucial clinical questions through their combined effort. Currently CARRA is working on a blind study of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) also known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) where 5 or more joints are affected. although there are some forms that encompass 4 or less joints in order to decide whether or not early aggressive therapy that may work in adult rheumatoid arthritis cases can transfer over to treating the same disease in children.

pain, swelling, stiffness, and limited range of motion to joint cartilage and bone damage due to deformities occurring in the joints, arthritis would not be fun to have at any age, but especially not the age of hopscotch and jump rope; climbing trees and swimming laps, playing tag and riding bikes.

Fatigue is sometimes described as work avoiding syndrome. It is a type of weakness that is the result of excess consumption of your physical, mental and emotional energy. Fatigue is different from drowsiness. It is the feel of lack of energy and motivation.

Lack of sleep, Emotional stress, physical exertion, and boredom are symptoms of fatigue. It may be a sign of psychological or physical disorder.

If fatigue is not relieved through enough sleep, nutrition, or stress less environment, you should consult your doctor.

More common causes of fatigue are given below:

The following illness can also cause fatigue

Fatigue is a symptom not a disease. It is a symptom of many health problems.

Understanding what is causing your knee to pain must be understood in the context of the pain itself. The age, the traumatic event, the location of the pain or even the developments of the symptoms are questions that are to be answered. Once these questions are answered, the investigation of the symptoms can begin. Putting the symptoms together with the history can often lead to a diagnosis.

Popping and snapping within the knee is also quite common, but often not necessarily a symptom of any particular problem. When the pops or snaps are actually painless, then there is usually no problem at all–the bigger concern is when the sounds are actually associated with pain. A pop is often heard or felt when the ligament, such as the ACL, is actually torn.

A sense of grinding or crunching is quite often associated with the bone grinding against another bone once the cartilage has worn away. This is quite commonly found in arthritis. Patients who are young (under 50 years of age) seldom have arthritis which will cause these severe symptoms, unless there has been a severe injury on the knee during the past.

Locking is the symptom that would occur when a patient cannot bend or even straighten their knee. The locking could either be due to something actually blocking the motion of the knee which may occur when a piece of cartilage wedges within the joint or when pain prevents the patient from being able to move the knee. These two causes must be differentiated, as something physically caught in the joint could be evaluated in a timely manner. Often injecting the knee with numbing medication can often help determine the cause of the locking.

Swelling of the knee is quite common with several different knee problems. When there is swelling immediately after an injury which is within an hour, then the most common causes are an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament or even a fracture of the top of the shin bone. When swelling increases gradually over hours to days, the injury is more likely a tear of the meniscus or perhaps a ligament sprain. Swelling that occurs without the presence of a known injury can also be due to arthritis which is very common, gout, or a joint infection which is not very common.

The location of the pain can be an essential part of tracking down the symptoms. Pain over the front of the knee is quite commonly related to the knee cap. Kneecap pain can be caused by many different problems. Pain on the inside, or medial aspect, of the knee is mainly caused by medial meniscus tears, medial collateral ligament injuries, and arthritis of the main joint. Pain on the outside of the knee, or lateral aspect of the knee joint, is mostly caused by lateral meniscus tears, lateral collateral ligament injuries, IT band tendonitis, and also arthritis of the joint. Pain in the back of the knee can be due to the formation of a particular cyst, called the Baker’s Cyst, in the back of the knee joint. Also common is for kneecap pain to be felt on the back of the knee.