Children with a rare form of arthritis are hoping a treatment used by adults can help ease their painful condition.

Children from as young as below the age of 16 can also develop arthritis a disease of the joints that is commonly known to affect adults. But with early diagnosis and appropriate treatment, young joints can be nursed back to good strength and health.

The arthritis drug Toclizumab could be a boon for hundreds of children suffering from severe arthritis. It has been re-launched in children after being already licensed for the treatment of adults. At least two thirds of children taking tocizilumab have been able to return to a normal life, after many were bedridden or forced into wheelchairs by the disease, the clinical studies reveal.

FALL RIVER — Not many people know that 1.25 million people in Massachusetts are affected by arthritis — that nearly 5,900 children and one in five adults are diagnosed with the disease — our nation's leading cause of disability. One...

At the tender age of 10, Julia Fong of Los Angeles already has two medical conditions that more often affect adults: arthritis and uveitis, an eye condition that can lead to blindness.