Gender Differences in Ankylosing Spondylitis
The influence of gender on the severity of ankylosing spondylitis was analyzed from a large study of patients with the disease, known as the Prospective Study of Outcomes in Ankylosing Spondylitis. Clinical assessments and spine x-rays were performed on 302 men and 100 women who had ankylosing spondylitis for 20 years or more. Functional impairment was also assessed.
Study results, published in the May 2007 Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, revealed that damage evident on x-ray was worse among men with ankylosing spondylitis than women. Functional disability was not different between men and women with ankylosing spondylitis, however women were found to "self-report" worse functional disability than men at any level of disease. Women had a slightly earlier age of disease onset and more frequently reported family history of ankylosing spondylitis in first-degree family members. Treatment differences suggested women may have more peripheral arthritis (arthritis affecting arms, hands, legs, and feet).
Ankylosing spondylitis is commonly referred to as arthritis of the spine. Ankylosing spondylitis is a systemic rheumatic disease which belongs to the group of conditions known as spondyloarthopathies. Early symptoms include low back pain and hip pain. Symptoms of pain and stiffness can progress up the spine to the neck, possibly including the rib cage area, bones may fuse and normal movement is lost. The disease is often misdiagnosed, resulting in a delayed diagnosis.
Related Resources:
- The Back Pain Quiz
- Guide to Lower Back Pain
- Fast Facts About Ankylosing Spondylitis
- Ankylosing Spondylitis Screening Quiz
- Ankylosing Spondylitis: Often a Delayed or Difficult Diagnosis
Join the Discussion:
Photo by Kai Koehler (iStockphoto)
Comments
I’m a 55 year old women and I finally had my severely deformed thumb reconstructed by an excellent hand surgeon. He is going to do the other one when I gain the strength in my other thumb.
He said 2 tendons were severely damaged and causing deformity from synovitis. He removed the synovitis also. My knees swell a lot every 13 days and I’ve suffered with many manifestations from what I didn’t know, for many years.
Even when I tested positive for the HLAB27 genetic tag and negative rheumatoid factor, the next two doctors I had didn’t think I had AS.
I have gone to many doctors and I’ve had symptoms since 1972. One of the rheumatologist, named Dr. John Mijer in Ogden, Utah, told me I needed pychological therapy and I left his office and sobbed!
I finally found a good rheumatologist in another city but the doctors in my home town usually don’t even believe his report. I could have prevented a lot of damage that I got from being on production at IRS if I had known what I had and what to do.
Doctors dismiss this disease in women and I think the guidelines and education need to change.