Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Study Shows Kids with Arthritis Prone to Fractures

Children with arthritis and other chronic rheumatic diseases show an increased incidence of backbone or vertebral fractures, according to a study at conducted at Montreal Children's Hospital published in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Included in the study, as reported in Reuter’s Health, were 90 children with conditions including juvenile idiopathic arthritis and connective tissue disease who were attending the hospital’s rheumatology clinic. The study found that 19-percent of the children studied had a much higher-than-average incidence of fractures. It also showed that 44-percent of the children with backbone fractures had no outward symptoms.

These findings, according to lead investigator Dr. Meranda Nakhla, raise the question of whether children with rheumatic diseases should be regularly screened for fractures. Read the full story on Reuter’s.

No comments:

Contributors