Ankylosing spondylitis is a disease of the back that is related to arthritis. It is an autoimmune disease causing inflammation of the spinal cord. This type of disease is generally noticed among young people, most of which are diagnosed at later stage due to ignorance of the symptoms. Ankylosing spondylitis can cause severe back pain, which at times, may be temporarily relieved by administering painkillers at a high dosage.
 
Ultimately, there has been an innovative drug called Humira for spondylitis back pain relief. Although Humira has been proved to be effective for chronic back pain treatment, it increases the risks of developing cancer as a side effect. Rheumatologists are trying to create awareness among people about the dangers of neglecting back pain during the initial stages. They have suggested physiotherapy and medication as the best way for treatment of chronic back pain at an early stage, as suggested by this article.

Humira For Spondylitis Back Pain Relief

Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disorder typically involving the spine

For most people, a sneeze is no big deal.

 

But when Donald Karp feels that telltale tickling sensation in his nose, a sense of panic overcomes him as he prepares for the extreme, searing agony that he knows will overcome his body.

 

At its worst, the pain feels like “several hot knives penetrating into your spine and hips.”

 

“You can barely breathe,” he said.

 

Karp has ankylosing spondylitis, a type of arthritis that causes inflammation of the spine. AS is an autoimmune disease, where the body’s immune system becomes confused and begins to attack the joints of the spine.

 

Despite affecting between 150,000 and 300,000 Canadians, according to the Arthritis Society, AS is still widely misunderstood.

 

Saturday marks World AS Awareness Day, an international event aimed at raising awareness about the relatively unknown disease.

 

The 35-year-old Calgarian first began to have symptoms of AS at the age of 18, but it took almost five years of repeated misdiagnoses before he finally knew what was causing his debilitating back pain.

 

Karp said he was working on the oilpatch near Medicine Hat when he first experienced hip pain that radiated up his back.

 

Thinking it was just aches and pains that come with heavy labour, he was told by co-workers to just “grunt up and deal with it.”

 

“Some days I would be fine,” he explained. “And then the next day, I would bend down to tie my shoe and I would end up on the ground.”

 

Karp ignored it for almost three years, but when it started to become debilitating, he knew he needed help.

 

“It got to the point where I couldn’t even get out of bed to make it to the bathroom,” he said.

 

But after several misdiagnoses, ranging from a slipped disc to multiple sclerosis, none of his doctors could tell him what was causing the excruciating pain.

 

A trip to a chiropractor, who was insistent on trying to crack his back as a solution, ended with an ambulance ride to the ER.

 

Unable to work, Karp moved back into his parents’ home in Calgary, where he encountered one of the worst pain episodes yet.

 

His mom, who found her son sprawled out on the floor, called 911. When paramedics arrived, they gave him three shots of morphine, but the strong painkiller “didn’t even touch me,” said Karp.

 

The traumatic memory continues to haunt him.

 

“It’s just something that a mother should never see,” said Karp, his voice breaking with emotion.

 

Finally, after a battery of tests, a young doctor diagnosed Karp, then 23.

 

He was prescribed a “cocktail of pills”— about 16 different pills from anti-inflammatories to muscle relaxants— to manage the pain.

 

After seven years, however, the pain returned.

 

His doctor decided to try a new —at the time experimental — drug called Humira that finally brought him relief.

 

Now five years later, Karp is mountain biking and snowboarding again, and has almost no back pain.

 

The drug isn’t without its side-effects, however, including an increased risk of developing certain types of cancers.

 

It also came at a steep cost, about $3,000 a month. Fortunately, his health benefits covered the cost.

 

Dr. Barry Koehler, a clinical professor of rheumatology at the University of British Columbia, said AS can be missed in some patients because of its tendency to affect younger people.

 

“Young people with back pain often gets dismissed as, ‘Oh, I just strained my back,’ ” said Koehler.

 

However, he said rheumatologists are trying to increase awareness of the disease’s “red flags” to help family doctors better recognize and diagnose it.

 

The symptoms can be managed with physiotherapy and certain medications, he said, but early detection is key.

 

More…

 

Neglecting back pain during the early stages might lead to severe complications in the future including permanent disability. Early detection of the causes of back pain will help in its proper treatment. Humira for spondylitis back pain relief is a comparatively new drug that proves effective, but with the chances of life-threatening side effects, it might be seen as a risk too far. The detection of the causes of back pain in the initial stage and then undergoing physiotherapy along with medication is highly recommended. It might be a case of better the Devil you know, but you should consider all treatment options available.

 Ankylosing spondylitis is most commonly identified as causing stiffness in the spinal column, and it usually affects men. Here’s a video with the basic facts about ankylosing spondylitis. This video is presented by Robert G.Lahita, M.D., Ph.D (Chairman of Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center)

 
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