Do people who have Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis have a shorter life expectancy?
Like say if they were diagnosed with it age 9 but probably had it since they were 7 and it effects most of there joints would there life be shorter? And if it is can you tell me why? Thanks for the help in advance!
rheumatoid arthritis is an auto immune disease so other autoimmune problems are likely to arise during the lifetime, such as eczema, hashimoto’s and many other possible afflictions any of which could lead to early death
There’s not a lot known about JRA or RA or autoimmune diseases in general. It’s thought that the mechanism behind JRA and RA are different.
Many people with JRA go into permanent remission in their late teens. But if it continues into adulthood, it’s renamed RA.
People with RA do have a shorter life expectancy because RA can also affect the heart. Many people with RA actually die of heart disease. Heart disease in patients with RA does not seem to be related to the level of control over the actual disease. So one person with RA could be unmedicated, another could be medication. This does not change the likelihood of either person developing a heart condition. It also doesn’t seem to matter if the RA is in every joint or in a few joints.
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of research done on JRA. This would involve having to study these children throughout their whole lives. It’s require a pretty large sample. As far as I know, it hasn’t been done.
…..