Guest guest Posted December 10, 2006 Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 Ankylosing Spondylitis What Is Ankylosing Spondylitis? http://www.rheumatology.org/public/factsheets/as.asp?aud=pat Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a rheumatic disease that causes arthritis of the spine and sacroiliac joints and can cause inflammation of the eyes, lungs, and heart valves. It varies from intermittent episodes of back pain that occur throughout life to a severe chronic disease that attacks the spine, peripheral joints and other body organs, resulting in severe joint and back stiffness, loss of motion and deformity as life progresses. AS is a member of the family of diseases that attack the spine called spondylarthropathies. In addition to AS, these diseases include Reiter's syndrome, some cases of psoriatic arthritis and the arthitis of inflammatory bowel disease. Cause The cause of AS is not known, but all of the spondylarthropathies share a common genetic marker, called HLA-B27, in most affected individuals. In some cases, the disease occurs in these predisposed people after exposure to bowel or urinary tract infections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.