Learn more about the Triangle Arthritis Walk at www.trianglearthritiswalk.kintera.org. The event features both a 3-mile and 1-mile course. Participants walk in honor of friends and family members with arthritis. People with arthritis wear blue hats signifying they're taking control of their conditions.
Those with dogs are encouraged to bring them along for the walk.
By John McCann
jmccann@heraldsun.com; 419-6601
DURHAM -- Even smart kids have issues with standardized tests. Those little answer-sheet bubbles craving color from No. 2 pencils can be hard on the hands.
But imagine filling in all those circles with arthritis cramping your style -- cramping your teenage style.
Nicole Beach hits the books at Durham School of the Arts. The young lady also takes piano lessons and plucks the guitar.
She is 16.
And she has arthritis.
Diagnosed with the ailment when she was 2 years old, Beach said day to day the arthritis isn't so bad, although this time of the year, when the weather's changing, can make her body hurt.
There was that bad flare-up back in November, Beach recalled; what hurt as much as anything was the realization that it probably meant she'd have arthritis for the rest of her life.
Some young people with arthritis go into remission or outgrow it, Beach said. But she was told if that was going to happen for her, then it would have occurred by now.
"I just don't even think about it anymore," Beach said.
She does think about the ailment, though, which has her gearing up for this year's Triangle Arthritis Walk on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Imperial Center's Winchester Building, 4309 Emperor Blvd. Registration starts at 9 a.m.
There is a need for both individual walkers and teams of walkers, along with volunteers to help run the event, said Grace Danuck, co-chairwoman of this area's offshoot of the national event that raises both awareness about and money for arthritis.
Around 400 people participated in last year's walk, Danuck said. Close to 500 walkers are expected this year, she said.
Danuck, of Apex, said she was diagnosed with arthritis when she was 5 years old. Unlike Beach, her condition went into remission. It happened during her middle school, high school and college years, she said.
"Which was a wonderful time to go into remission," said Danuck, whose arthritis returned about six months after she finished college.
But what Danuck's story says and what Beach's story screams is arthritis is not just something old folks get.
Some 300,000 children in this country have arthritis, said pediatric rheumatologist Laura Schanberg, a professor and co-division chief of pediatric rheumatology at Duke University Medical Center.
While arthritis is the fourth most common chronic childhood illness, there only are about 200 pediatric rheumatologists in the United States, Schanberg said. Five of those specialists are in North Carolina, she said. Some states don't have any.
Around 46 million people in this country have been diagnosed with arthritis, according to the Atlanta-based Arthritis Foundation.
What we're talking about with arthritis is pain, Schanberg said. It's swelling in the joints. It's having a tough time putting on your clothes. It's difficulty taking a bath.
The thing with arthritic kids, though, is they may not complain about pain, Schanberg said. When some kids' joints hurt, they simply don't use them, she said. What you'll notice is, say, a young girl not all the way bending her wrist, or a young boy not fully extending an arm or a leg, Schanberg said. Those kids could be compensating for arthritis, she said.
Finding out
Beach's mom, Michele, thought her 2-year-old was just spoiled when she wanted to be held all the time.
But then Mom noticed her baby's swollen knees. It was arthritis.
The ailment wasn't something about which Michele Beach needed to feel guilty, because there wasn't anything she could have done to prevent it, according to Schanberg. In fact, prevention is not the goal when it comes to arthritis.
"We don't really know how to prevent arthritis," Schanberg said.
It's about treatment, Schanberg said, which goes beyond popping Tylenol. There are better medicines that dramatically change the course of arthritis, Schanberg said; patients don't have to be miserable just because they have arthritis.
Recognizing arthritis early and getting treatment is the key to preventing long-term, irreversible damage caused by the ailment, Schanberg said. Arthritis medicines are geared toward preventing damage, but can't repair the body, she said.
Moving on
At school, Nicole Beach sometimes gets around in a wheelchair. As for those standardized tests, teachers have allowed her to indicate her responses to the questions and let another person color in the bubbles on the answer sheets later.
Nicole Beach said she walked 3 miles in last year's Triangle Arthritis Walk and plans to do it again Saturday. She's trying to get her friends involved, too.
It's about awareness, because arthritis doesn't get the kind of attention that other diseases receive, and that's frustrating, Nicole Beach said.
"It's really bothering that it's something that doesn't go away," Nicole Beach said. "It's a huge part of your life."
Hoping to ease the pain for others, Nicole Beach said she plans on becoming one of those rare pediatric rheumatologists.
"She's told me she knows what it feels like," Michele Beach said.
