In my specialist clinics, I am often asked, “Can ankylosing spondylitis be cured? This is a very important question, but it is difficult to answer accurately and simply because the condition varies from patient to patient, and because what doctors consider to be a “cure” is a medical “clinical remission”, which is not exactly the same as what people consider to be This is not exactly the same as what people think of as a “cure”. Ankylosing spondylitis, often referred to as “strong column” or “strong spine” and abbreviated as AS, occurs mainly in young and middle-aged men. About 5% of patients with AS develop it in childhood. In patients with a strong column, inflammation occurs in the joints and ligaments of the back that normally move and flex. This inflammation causes pain and stiffness, usually starting in the lower back (including the hips) and progressing over time to the upper spine, chest and neck. Eventually the joints and bones (vertebrae) can grow together, fuse with each other and calcify, making the spine stiff and rigid. Other joints, such as the hip, shoulder, knee or ankle, can also become inflamed. Because patients have only some of the symptoms (hip pain, inflammatory low back pain, or hip pain) at the onset of the disease, and no restriction of spinal motion or x-ray changes in the sacroiliac joints, this group of patients is difficult to diagnose as having a strong column in its early stages and is often diagnosed with undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy or medial spondylolisthesis. In terms of treatment, there are only two types of drugs that have been recognized as effective for patients with strong column: anti-inflammatory painkillers (NSAIDs) and biological agents (tumor necrosis factor antagonists). The people often understand anti-inflammatory painkillers simply as painkillers, which are often resisted or rejected, which is not sensible. For those patients who are in the active stage of the disease (self-perceived pain, morning stiffness, elevated blood sedimentation or C-reactive protein), they should take anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs in sufficient amount. If the effect is unsatisfactory, tumor necrosis factor antagonists can be applied. The latter drugs are much more potent than the former, but they are more expensive and require injectable administration. In addition, functional joint exercises and correct posture are also very important measures to prevent joint ankylosis. With aggressive treatment, 10%-30% of patients with undifferentiated spondyloarthropathies (early stages of the disease) can be completely cured (“cut off”); another 70%-80% of patients gradually develop a strong column. Among them, 60-80% of patients with strong column can achieve clinical remission, i.e., disappearance of pain or morning stiffness and normalization of inflammatory indicators such as blood sedimentation or C-reactive protein, after active treatment and persistent joint exercises. If patients apply tumor necrosis factor antagonists at an early stage to achieve cure or clinical remission, the percentage will be high, and the benefits obtained will be much more than those of patients at a later stage. In short, strong column is a chronic inflammatory disease, and like chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, most patients with this type of chronic disease are medically difficult to be cured (cut off) at all. Early detection, early treatment, and proper exercise can help improve the prognosis (prevent joint deformity). It is not possible for humans to eliminate diseases or overcome them, either at present or in the future. Doctors can only do their best to reduce the level of pain, protect joint function, reduce complications and improve the quality of life of patients.