10 Spondyloarthritis Info Pieces I Needed 8 Years Ago
A lot of misinformation was out there (still is) when I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis (now Axial Spondyloarthritis) that I only knew was incorrect months or years later.
I wish I had found the following 10 items of correct information:
- Spondyloarthritis (SpA) is NOT rare
Fact: in the US, it’s estimated that SpA impacts 3.2 million people (~1%) That’s more than RA, MS, & ALS combined, with room to spare. But. The disease is widely underdiagnosed. The prevalence is likely much higher than estimated.
2. Spondyloarthritis is its own disease (in 2013 some resources said it was a form of RA)
Related: SpA is an IMID: Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Disease. Further, we can’t say definitively if it’s autoimmune or autoinflammatory though it has some properties of both.
3. Spondyloarthritis affects all genders closer to a 1:1 ratio than widely believed
SpA is also vastly under-diagnosed in some racial communities (especially black women) due to lack of awareness, research & incorrect medical diagnostic information (see next tweet).
4. HLA-B27 is a small part of the genetic involvement in SpA (90% with SpA have the gene, 10% don’t. The % adjusts with race).
