Ankylosing spondylitis: Chronic Inflammation in the Spine can lead to other Joints and Organs

From MedicineNet.com

What is ankylosing spondylitis?

Ankylosing spondylitis is a form of chronic inflammation of the spine and the sacroiliac joints. The sacroiliac joints are located in the low back where the sacrum (the bone directly above the tailbone) meets the iliac bones (bones on either side of the upper buttocks). Chronic inflammation in these areas causes pain and stiffness in and around the spine. Over time, chronic spinal inflammation (spondylitis) can lead to a complete cementing together (fusion) of the vertebrae, a process referred to as ankylosis. Ankylosis leads to loss of mobility of the spine.

Ankylosing spondylitis is also a systemic rheumatic disease, meaning it can affect other tissues throughout the body. Accordingly, it can cause inflammation in or injury to other joints away from the spine, as well as other organs, such as the eyes, heart, lungs, and kidneys. Ankylosing spondylitis shares many features with several other arthritis conditions, such as psoriatic arthritis, reactive arthritis, and arthritis associated with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Each of these arthritic conditions can cause disease and inflammation in the spine, other joints, eyes, skin, mouth, and various organs. In view of their similarities and tendency to cause inflammation of the spine, these conditions are collectively referred to as "spondyloarthropathies." For more information, please read the following articles; Psoriatic Arthritis, Reactive Arthritis, Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Read More

Chronic Arthritis Inflammation Linked to Heart Attacks

From ScienceDaily.com reporting Mayo Clinic Findings

Highlight:
Scientists have known for some time that people with rheumatoid arthritis have a greater risk of dying from a heart attack, and a new study from Minnesota's famed Mayo Clinic points to a joint inflammation as the main cause for the trend.

"We believe that inflammation is a strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease," says the study's lead researcher.

While the experts are still unsure of exactly why rheumatoid arthritis's inflammation of large joints may lead to heart attack deaths, they say that issue is under investigation. In the meantime, they say, it's apparent that, keeping a patient's heart attack risk factor to its minimum is a matter of keeping inflammation to its minimum, too. Read More

Can Drugs for Arthritis Have Harmful Levels of Toxicity?

From the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health
Contributed by The Department of Medicine, Standford School of Medicine, CA

OBJECTIVE. To compare the toxicities of commonly employed disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS. Toxicity Index scores, computed from symptoms, laboratory abnormalities, and hospitalizations attributable to DMARD therapy, were assessed in 2,747 patients. Read More

What is Inflammation?

From The Cleveland Clinic Health Information Center

Inflammation is a process by which the body’s white blood cells and chemicals protect us from infection and foreign substances such as bacteria and viruses.

In some diseases, however, the body’s defense system (immune system) inappropriately triggers an inflammatory response when there are no foreign substances to fight off. In these diseases, called autoimmune diseases, the body’s normally protective immune system causes damage to its own tissues. The body responds as if normal tissues are infected or somehow abnormal. Read More