"This book is an absolute gem written with a single goal in mind: improve the lives of kids with arthritis."


Charles Spencer, M.D., Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, University of Chicago, La Rabida
"This book explains the illnesses, the medications, the lab tests, and the disease course in simple, understandable lay language Bravo!"--


Kathy Gaither, Juvenile Scleroderma Network, Inc.
"A must have for any family! Dr. Lehman, gives a clear understanding of the treatments and what they can expect"


Enid Engelhard, CSW, Director of Social Services, S.L.E. Foundation, Inc.
"This is a must-read for pediatricians and health care professionals who treat children and adolescents and for parents"


Book Description
Arthritis is usually considered a disease of older adults, but nearly 300,000 children in the United States suffer from some form of arthritis or rheumatic disease, such as juvenile arthritis (JRA), fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, or Kawasaki disease. Yet until now very little information has been available to guide parents and doctors in properly diagnosing such children. Here is a readable, reliable guide to the common causes of bone, joint, muscle, and arthritis pain in children, designed to help parents and physicians understand these disorders, arrive at the proper diagnosis, and choose the most effective treatment. In this comprehensive resource, Dr. Thomas Lehman--the head of one of the most prestigious pediatric rheumatology programs in the world--offers easy-to-understand information on the causes, symptoms, tests, and treatments for a wide variety of rheumatic diseases and childhood pain. Dr. Lehman writes with great clarity, providing numerous case examples that illustrate the topic at hand and offering practical, down-to-earth advice. Equally important, he answers the questions that parents are most likely to ask: What should they observe in their children? What questions should they ask their doctor? Which tests are necessary? What risk factors should they be aware of? And how can they help their children cope with the social and psychological aspects of their illness. The book summarizes diagnostic tests, discusses the most effective medications, and discusses physical therapy, alternative therapy, and surgical options that are available. Clearly written, thorough, authoritative, and up-to-date, It's Not Just Growing Pains is the definitive resource available on the subject for parents and health care professionals, helping them to understand the children's pain and find the best available care.


From the Author
This book is written to help the parents of children with joint pain and childhood arthritis and the many nurses, teachers, therapists and physicians who care for them understand the conditions which cause joint pain and make sure these children get the proper diagnosis, the best care, and the best possible outcome.


About the Author
Thomas J. A. Lehman, MD, FAAP, FACR, is Senior Scientist, Attending Physician, and Chief, Division of Pediatric Rheumatology, Hospital for Special Surgery, and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Weill Medical College of Cornell University. He is a fellow of both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Rheumatology and a member of the New York Academy of Medicine. Dr. Lehman has published over fifty scientific articles and many book chapters regarding the care of children with arthritis and related conditions.


Excerpted from All about Bone, Joint, Muscle, and Arthritis Pain in Childhood: A Guide to Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, Injuries, and Rheumatic Diseases for Parents and Professionals by Thomas J. A. Lehman. Copyright © 2004. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
This is not a textbook. It is a guidebook. Like a travelers’ guidebook it will help you find your way in unfamiliar territory. This book provides both the information an intelligent parent of a child with bone, muscle, joint pain, or arthritis needs to make sure their child is getting the best care, and the information a health professional, unfamiliar with pediatric rheumatology, needs to guide them. My goal is to help you understand what is happening to your child (or the child you care for) and why. For parents this book will serve as a guide to help understand the many causes of bone, muscle and joint pain, to help understand their doctors’ decisions, and to help understand what to expect for their child in the future. This book will give parents the information necessary to ask meaningful questions and properly evaluate the alternative choices available for their child’s care. For physicians this book is designed to help in the recognition and care of children who need to be referred to a specialist. Often parents will seek help from their primary physician or other help professionals because they have questions about the specialist’s recommendations. This book provides the information needed to explain these recommendations and help parents understand their choices. It also provides the information necessary to allow health care professionals to ask the specialist meaningful questions. This is not a textbook of pediatric rheumatology or pediatric orthopedics. It is a guide to the chronic rheumatic and orthopedic conditions of childhood. Like every guidebook it does not cover everything. I have emphasized the more common conditions and the more important problems. Not everyone will agree with all that I have written – just as traveler’s guidebooks may disagree on which are the best restaurants and hotels in a given city. If you are looking for long lists of detailed references, put this book down. The phone book will tell you every restaurant, every hotel, and every museum in the city with complete objectivity. A guidebook will not list them all but it will tell you which the authors believe you should choose. This book will provide you with the insights I have gained from over twenty-five years experience in caring for children with bone, muscle, joint pain, and rheumatic diseases. In this day and age millions of dollars are spent annually on research into causes of disease and newer medications, but few of the children I see do poorly because doctors lack the necessary tools to treat them. The majority of children with rheumatic disease do well. Most who do poorly do so because too long elapsed before they came to proper medical attention, or because their parents and caregivers had too little understanding of the many treatments available and the importance of proper treatment. I am writing this book for an audience of both parents and professionals in the hope that it will speed the proper diagnosis and referral of many children with unrecognized or improperly treated problems. The parents will find words that are sometimes unfamiliar, and the professionals definitions for which they have no need. My apologies to all of you. There is a glossary at the end of the text. Much of the information in this book is not in textbooks and in many cases it has not been rigorously proven. This is the type of information that you go out of your way to find an experienced specialist for. When physicians, trained in the field, cannot all agree on the right answers, how are parents going to make the proper choices? This book reflects my experience. My goal is to give you the benefit of that experience to help you get the best outcome for your child. The care of children with bone, muscle, joint pain, and arthritis is still more an art than a science. As in cooking, the best results depend far more on experience, careful monitoring, and minor adjustments than strict adherence to the written recipe. Not every physician will share my opinions. Not every physician is willing to go beyond the "proven" in reaching for the best possible outcome. The final decisions will always be yours.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Arthritis is usually considered a disease of older adults, but nearly 300,000 children in the United States suffer from some form of arthritis or rheumatic disease, such as juvenile arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, or Kawasaki disease. Yet until now very little information has been available to guide parents and doctors in properly diagnosing such children. Here is a readable, reliable guide to the common causes of muscle, bone, joint, and arthritis pain in children, designed to help parents and physicians understand these disorders, arrive at the proper diagnosis, and choose the most effective treatment. In this comprehensive resource, Dr. Thomas Lehman -- the head of one of the most prestigious pediatric rheumatology programs in the world -- offers easy-to-understand information on the causes, symptoms, tests, and treatments for a wide variety of rheumatic diseases and childhood pain.

Dr. Lehman writes with great clarity, providing numerous case examples that illustrate the topic at hand and offering practical, down-to-earth advice. Equally important, he answers the questions that parents are most likely to ask: What should they observe in their children? What questions should they ask their doctor? Which tests are necessary? What risk factors should they be aware of? And how can they help their children cope with the social and psychological aspects of their illness? The book summarizes diagnostic tests, discusses the most effective medications, and discusses physical therapy, alternative therapy, and surgical options that are available. Clearly written, thorough, authoritative, and up-to-date, It's Not Just Growing Pains is the definitive resource available on the subject for parents and health care professionals, helping them to understand the children's pain and find the best available care.

FROM THE CRITICS

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