Medicine and Health related Information

What is Ankylosing Spondylitis

Ankylosing spondylitis is a kind of arthritis which affects the spine and leads to stiffness of the back. The word ‘ankylosing’ means stiff, ‘spondyl’ means spine and ‘itis’ means inflammation. Because of this reason the disease is also called inflammation and arthritis of the joints of the spinal bones (vertebrae) which gets fused together and tends to become stiff and rigid. Ankylosing spondylitis more commonly affects the young age group persons and in severe cases ankylosing spondylitis can result in full stiffness of the spine because of the fusion of the bones, although the disease usually stops before this stage, leaving with stiffness of lower back and hips.

Causes of Ankylosing Spondylitis

When it comes to cause of ankylosing sponydylitis recent research has shown that this disease can be because of hereditary factors. HLA-B27 a genetic marker has been more recently discovered in more than 90 % of the patients suffering from ankylosing spondylitis which clearly signifies that someone who is having this HLA-B27 has more chances of getting developing ankylosing spondylitis.

Ankylosing Spondylitis Symptoms

The symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis starts with the pain and stiffness in the region of lower back which is severe during morning hours while waking up from the sleep. There can be inflammation of sacroiliac joints which is a joint between the base of the spine and hip bones which causes backache. Slowly the inflammation may spreads up to the spine and even the neck may be stiff. The spine may begin to curve prominently if the problem is ignored and treatment is not done. There can be fusion of the joints and can limit the affected person movement.

Ankylosing Spondylitis Diagnosis

Ankylosing spondylitis can be diagnosed by doctor by looking at the patients x-ray report of the sacroiliac joints and spine which may show prominent changes. The patient may also need to undergo blood test on the advice of the doctor to look for the HLA-B27 marker.

Ankylosing Spondylitis Treatment

The chief support in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis is exercise because if the patient keeps taking rest then there may be increase in the stiffness and fusion of the affected joints.
If the disease is in acute condition then ankylosing spondylitis can be treated by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Few forms of exercise like breathing exercises, flexion, extension and rotation of the spine can be learned under guidance of a physiotherapist.

As a precaution the patient is advised to undergo genetic counseling to prevent the occurrence of the disease in the future generations. If the patient is finding this disease intolerable then corrective surgery can be done.