Ankylosing spondylitis is a disease that has only been taken seriously and standardized in diagnosis and treatment in the last 20 to 30 years, and many people have never heard of it, but the incidence of this disease is actually not low. Nowadays, the vast majority of older men with hunchback deformities can be attributed to ankylosing spondylitis that was not properly treated when they were younger. In the clinic, many patients often hear that they have ankylosing spondylitis and do not behave sensibly. Both of these situations can easily lead to delays and irreversible consequences, the most common of which are hunchbacks. So I want to tell you some simple common sense things here to help you understand ankylosing spondylitis correctly, treat and treat this disease correctly. 1. Is it hereditary? Ankylosing spondylitis is a disease with a certain genetic predisposition, often associated with a gene called HLA-B27, but not all patients have this gene, and it is not certain that you will get the disease if you have this gene. If a child has the disease, his or her parents do not necessarily have the disease, and if a parent has the disease, his or her children do not necessarily have the disease. Generally speaking, men are more likely to develop the disease than women. 2. What are the symptoms? The most common symptom of ankylosing spondylitis is low back pain in young people, especially pain at night and a feeling of stiffness in the morning when they get up, and some patients also have a feeling of stiffness or discomfort in the back when they get up after sitting for a long time. Another characteristic is that the symptoms mentioned above will improve and decrease after getting up and moving around. Some patients may also experience painful swelling and fluid accumulation in the ankle, knee or hip joints. Generally, not many patients develop the disease after the age of 40, and the most common are men aged 18-30. 3.How to treat? The first thing is to exercise properly, the most effective and reasonable way to exercise is to swim and do exercises, do not advocate strenuous exercise, the most taboo long time sitting in a place fixed a posture, such as playing computer games. Secondly, during the symptomatic period, we should take drugs such as Fotarine and Intacrine to relieve symptoms and reduce inflammation; further medication should be decided by the doctor. At present, the further treatment of drugs such as immunosuppressive drugs, such as reaction stop, lorazepam, methotrexate and other oral drugs, has a certain degree of efficacy, but the overall efficacy is not ideal, of course, there are certain side effects, mainly affecting the blood routine and liver and kidney function, the incidence is not high. Another major category is biological agents, more commonly used is Yicep, Enzyme, Adamu, etc., the effect is very good, the side effects are relatively small, mainly easy to lead to an increase in the incidence of infection; but the disadvantage is that the price is expensive, the general cost of a year in 5-15 million; medical insurance can not be used. So the choice of drugs should be based on the condition, age, financial ability, the presence of other co-morbidities and other comprehensive considerations. 4.What is the difference between treatment and no treatment? Ankylosing spondylitis is not curable at the current level of medical care, even in Europe and the United States and other developed countries use the same treatment as in China, which we are not behind. Correct treatment can control the disease, reduce symptoms, improve the quality of life and avoid deformities, but early treatment is needed, the consequences that already exist, such as bone destruction, joint deformities, hunchback, etc. are irreversible; no treatment or wrong treatment is generally not fatal, its most serious consequence is to cause disability, such as the destruction of hip function requires hip replacement, otherwise only wheelchair life; common consequences are hunchback The most common consequences are hunchback, inability to bend, inability to turn the neck, and deformity of both legs. Some patients with mild cases can be treated well with appropriate exercises and intermittent medications such as fotarine, and will not be deformed; some patients with heavy types and rapid progress of bone destruction may require biological treatment to stop the development of the disease. Therefore, the specific treatment plan must be determined with the help of a professional rheumatologist, and should not be self-imposed. The above are some general knowledge issues about ankylosing spondylitis, because I have a lot of patients in the clinic, time is tight, and I can not communicate with you in detail, and ankylosing spondylitis patients are very many, so today hanging online this article, are some of my own experience and experience, I hope to let you ankylosing spondylitis patients have some scientific understanding of the disease, in order to facilitate better face and treatment I hope this will help you to have some scientific understanding of the disease so that you can better face and treat it. I wish you all a speedy recovery!