NEW YORK (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Nearly 300,000 children in the United
States suffer from joint diseases. These diseases often go undetected because
doctors dismiss them as growing pains. But there are signs parents can watch for
to prevent a misdiagnosis.
On the outside, Bryan Presutti looks like your average 10-year-old. He plays
little league ball and races four wheelers. But on the inside, Bryan is
different. His body tires fast, and his joints often ache. Bryan has spondyloarthropathy -- a common arthritic disease.
"I can't do normal stuff that other people can do, like run, play baseball
and stuff like that for a long period of time," Bryan says. His parents first
noticed a problem when he was just 3 years old.
Jay Presutti, Bryan's dad, says, "It was about three o'clock in the morning,
and we heard scuffling across the floor, and it was Bryan sliding himself across
the floor to the bathroom, and he says he couldn't walk."
For six years, Bryan was misdiagnosed, with everything from leukemia to
normal aches and pains.
"It's very common for children who have real arthritis and a more serious
condition to initially have been dismissed by inexperienced physicians as simply
having growing pains," says Thomas J. A. Lehman, M.D., a rheumatologist at
Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
Dr. Lehman says parents should look for specific symptoms to make sure it is
just growing pains. He says, "Parents need to know that growing pains are
something that occurs usually just as the child is going to sleep at night or in
the middle of the night, and that child is absolutely fine when they wake up in
the morning."
But if your child experiences morning stiffness or pain in the daytime, it
could be something much more serious that Dr. Lehman says warrants a medical
evaluation. Which is what Bryan finally got. And now, with the right treatments,
he and his family can go on with their lives.
Dr. Lehman says if you suspect your child's complaints are being ignored,
keep searching for a doctor who will listen to your concerns
