Ankylosing spondylitis (ankylosing spondylitis or rheumatoid spondyloarthritis) is a chronic autoimmune disease affecting the cartilaginous tissues of the spine, whose mobility decreases sharply and is accompanied by severe pain. Therapeutic methods in most countries are aimed at improving the quality of life and reducing pain. Israeli clinics use innovative methods of treating rheumatoid diseases, including ankylosing spondylitis, with the achievement of stable remission.
Risk factors
- Gender and age. According to statistics, Ankylosing spondylitis affects much more young men than women. Most often, this is the age group of 15-40 years.
- Heredity. Like any autoimmune disease, rheumatoid spondylitis can develop if there is a genetic predisposition. If the family has repeatedly encountered ankylosing spondylitis, it is necessary to undergo a regular examination, because years often pass from the first symptoms to the diagnosis, and during this time irreversible processes occur in the spine.
- Chronic infectious diseases. One of the factors provoking the appearance of ankylosing spondylitis can be prolonged infections in the digestive and urogenital systems, especially in combination with constant stress.
- Spinal injuries can provoke the development of rheumatoid spondylitis in rare cases.
Symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis
In the early stages, patient experiences pain and stiffness in the lumbar spine and in the sacrum. In ankylosing spondylitis, the feeling of a stiff lower back increases at rest, especially in the second half of the night before waking up. At the same time, stiffness and pain disappear when performing physical exercises, for example, morning exercises and warm-ups.
The progression of rheumatoid spondylitis is accompanied by an expansion of the pain zone over the entire back and the appearance of stooping. The pain spreads to the legs, arms and ribs. The inflammation itself can spread to the joints of the limbs and even to the eyes.
In the later stages, ankylosing spondylitis develops more significant and severe symptoms, including complete or partial rigidity (inflexibility) of the spine, severe stooping and decreasing of the height, and inflammatory processes in the intestines, joints, and eyes.
Diagnostics
- Laboratory tests. They can include up to about 150 indicators. This is necessary to accurately determine the immune response, since rheumatoid spondylitis is an autoimmune disease. Often for the diagnosis of Ankylosing spondylitis, analysis for the HLA-B27 antigen is performed in Israeli clinics, which is found in more than 90% of all patients with ankylosing spondylitis.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
- Radiography.
Treatment of Ankylosing spondylitis in Israel
- Drug therapy. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, immunosuppressants, glucocorticoids and other medications of the latest generation that can not only stop the development of rheumatoid spondylitis, but also lead to a stable remission.
- Biotherapy. Rheumatologists in Israel were among the first in the world to apply an innovative method of treating ankylosing spondylitis with drugs created on the basis of monoclonal antibodies, which are effective even in late severe stages.
- Minimally invasive surgery. The operation is performed only in severe forms of rheumatoid spondylitis, when intervertebral disc replacement or endoprosthetics of the affected joints are necessary.
The best specialists in rheumatology with international recognition, the up-to-date medical and diagnostic equipment and the introduction of innovative treatment methods made it possible not only to save patients from terrible back pain, but also to prevent the development of irreversible pathological changes in the spine in the early stages of the disease. All this has made Israel a center of global medical tourism for people suffering from rheumatoid diseases and particularly ankylosing spondylitis.