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Ankylosing spondylitis is the type of arthritis that affects the small joints of the spine and the sacroiliac joints.It is also known as the reactive arthritis of the spine. It may also cause inflammation and pain of other parts of the body in severe cases. It is an inflammatory disease. It is more common in men than women. It mainly affects the young people in the age group of 15-30 and is rarely seen in people above 40. In Canada more than 150,000 people suffer from this type of arthritis. In United States every 129 people from 100,000suffer from ankylosing spondylitis. The course of disease is highly variable. Some individuals suffer from back pain only while others suffer from more chronic severe back pain that leads to different degrees of spinal stiffness. In almost all cases the disease is characterized by acute painful episodes and remissions.
In ankylosing spondylitis complications involves eyes, heart and in some cases the lings. About one-quarter of the people have eye complications accompanied with the disease. In severe cases if the diseases progresses to the spine, the ribs can also get involved at the point where they join spine. This reduces the patients’ ability to breathe as the lungs get constricted. So there is maximum possibility of chest infection. In the later stages the jaws are also affected causing difficulty in eating and speaking.
Symptoms for Ankylosing spondylitis
The first symptom of ankylosing spondylitis is pain in the lower back and legs. Later the hips and shoulders may get involved. The signs and symptoms may change over time that may become worse, improve gradually or even stop at any point. The various other symptoms are:
- Eye inflammation
- Back pain during night
- Chronic stooping
- Loss of weight
- Pain and stiffness in the ribs and other lower joints of the body
- Bowel disorders
- Chest infection and congestion
Causes for Ankylosing spondylitis
The cause of ankylosing spondylitis is unknown but the heredity is considered the main factor. Other than blood type we also inherit tissue type from the parents. One of the tissue type is, HLA-B27 that is found only in 6% of the total population but occurs in 93% of people suffering from ankylosing spondylitis. Many reports in the literature show infection as the cause of ankylosing spondylitis and many papers and journals supported the same.
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