What is jra vs rheumatiod arthritis?

Yes: Ra is definitely possible in a teen and younger, usually known as juvenile ra. The differences can be in presentation and often in jra the diagnostic blood tests are different. No one knows the cause, but you should see a rheumatologist to be appropriately diagnosed and treated.

Not the same disease: Apart from clinical differences, children are rarely ccp antibody positive, fewer are rf positive, they rarely develop rheumatoid nodules. We now call jra, juvenile idopathic arthritis, or jia. Most of my children have adult forms of spondyloarthritis preesenting at an early age. They have a stronger family hx for arthritis as well, much stronger than adult RA patients have!

Different conditions: Children under the age of 16 cannot get ra. They get juvenile idiopathic arthritis (jia) which is also an autoimmune disease affecting the joints but very different in many respects. Even as older adults, they are adults with jia. Older teenagers can develop rheumatoid factor positive polyarticulatar jia that looks very similar to RA and may develop into a disease that looks similar to ra.