Are You Suffering From Ankylosing Spondylitis?
The disease is affecting the spine and peripheral joints.
If you start to realize that suffers from pain and stiffness in and around the spine be careful because it is a symptom of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) which is a systemic rheumatic disease.
“This is an inflammatory disease of unknown cause that attacks mainly the axial skeleton (spine) but can also affect peripheral joints and extraarticular structures & warned that the disease usually begins in the decades second and third of life and that its prevalence is two to three times higher in men than in women.
In 80% of patients the first manifestation of the disease occurs before age 30 and 5% after 45 years. This means that it is a matter of youth and young adults.
Common symptoms include forward curvature of the upper torso and limited respiratory capacity. It may also cause complete fusion of the vertebrae which in turn can cause loss of mobility of the spine highlight medical studies.
Unfortunately there is a laboratory study to diagnose ankylosing spondylitis but in most ethnic groups 90% of patients with this disease have the antigen known as HLA-B27
It is therefore important to check by a specialist doctor a rheumatologist in this case. However it also can help with X-ray examination of co-column and hips (sacroiliac joint) because there can be early signs of the condition detailed Herrera.
To date it believes that the probability of developing the condition mentioned factor depends on heredity but also considered other aspects that influence possibly environmental play an important role in the onset of the disease.
We must be alert to symptoms that may occur mainly at night spinal pain and stiffness after prolonged periods of inactivity which improve with physical activity advises on its website the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
Treatment Options
Aspirin and other nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as diclofenac naproxen ketoprofen indomethacin tolmetin sulindac and inhibitors of Cox-2 are often used to reduce illness and stiffness of the spine and other joints.
However doctor’s advice avoiding self-medication as Herrera explained there are evils that blend with ankylosing spondylitis.
Such is the case of those who are classified as arthropathy: arthritis psoriasis reactive arthritis arthritis associated with intestinal disease and arthritis juvenile onset (before age 16 years) and in the background other causes of joint swelling as rheumatoid arthritis.
Risks of evil
The disease can be fatal in some cases it can make breathing difficult. However the most common of the drawbacks is that it comes to cause disability in course of time so that “any treatment should include an exercise program designed to maintain good posture and range of motion”.
Useful information
The prevalence of the disease is two to three times higher in men than in women. In them other joints (but not in the lower spine) tend to be affected more frequently than in them. Although the misquoted usually occurs in the second or third decade of life people can be affected at any age including childhood.