What Causes Ankylosing Spondylitis?

Ankylosing spondylitis manifests itself as a rheumatic disease in more than 90-percent of all patients in the HLA-B27 genotype, though the specific antibodies for the disease have yet to be identified by researchers.

It has been hypothesized by researchers that ankylosing spondylitis has a relationship with antigens from the Klebsiella bacteria; which is responsible for a number of diseases including septicemia, soft-tissue infections, pneumonia, and urinary tract infections.

While there is no direct test that clinically diagnoses ankylosing spondylitis, studies of the spine and X-ray’s often show the spinal deformities as the vertebrae begin to fuse together. The best means of diagnosing ankylosing spondylitis is by using tomography or an MRI in which the sacroiliac joints are fully examined by a physician. Other means of determining ankylosing spondylitis can occur when a patient is experiencing bouts of inflammation which creates contractions of the C-reactive protein in the bloodstream, as well as a general increase in the erythrocyte sedimentation rate; which how quickly the red blood cells regenerate within the course of an hour.