Arthritis Week aims to raise awareness

FOUR-YEAR-OLD Robert Courtney is a lively and fun-loving child well able to keep up with his twin brother Sam. But he was not always so.

Robert was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis when he was just 16 months old.

He became withdrawn because the condition caused painful swelling in his jaw, making chewing problematic and impairing his speech.

Robert and his mother, Jennifer Courtney, from Harold’s Cross, Dublin, were at yesterday’s launch of Arthritis Ireland’s National Arthritis Week to show that arthritis is a disease affecting all ages.

Ms Courtney, said her son’s quality of life only began to improve just over a year ago when he came under the care of Dr Orla Killeen, a consultant paediatric rheumatologist at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin.

Dr Killeen is the first and only paediatric rheumatologist to be appointed in the State. Ms Courtney said the appointment of the doctor a year ago was long overdue.

It was when Robert was 14 months old that Ms Courtney noticed her son was not developing as he should.

At the time Sam was running around while Robert was still crawling.

Also at the launch was Frankie Scott, now aged 20 and from Drumcondra, Dublin, who was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she was four year old.

“People are normally shocked or don’t believe me when I tell them I’ve had arthritis since I was a child,” she said.

There are more than 100 types of arthritis and it is estimated that up to 1 in every 1,000 children in Ireland are affected by arthritis.

Most people have osteoarthritis — the “‘wear and tear”’ form that results in joint and cartilage damage.

Chief executive of Arthritis Ireland, John Church, said the week also allowed them an opportunity to highlight once again the severe lack of rheumatology resources in the country.

According to figures from the Health Service Executive (HSE) the average wait to see a rheumatologist is 18 months, increasing to up to four years in some parts of the country.