Organizers of this year’s World AS Day, seek to raise awareness about the signs and symptoms of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), a disorder that’s thought to affect more than 50 million people globally. The day will be observed on Saturday, May 4. The campaign is coordinated by the…

Two or more comorbidities affected nearly half of the ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients in a large study of the disease, with the most common coexisting conditions being uveitis (eye inflammation), depression, and hypertension (high blood pressure). Those with no comorbidities were younger and had shorter disease duration, the researchers reported,…

Scrolling through the camera roll on my phone, I stumbled across a photo of myself with a wide smile. My makeup looked flawless and my body slender and strong, but I could see that the smile didn’t reach my eyes. Instantly, my mind flashed back to 2020, when the image…

“Geez, my back’s getting worse,” I muttered to myself as I took a break midway on my walk around the park near my house in Perth, Australia. Pulling the protruding white earbuds from my ears, I paused the chattering voices on my podcast. Gently digging my thumbs into my lower…

Craning my head back, I surveyed the wood and metal structure towering over us. “Come on, Mum, let’s climb it together!” my two kids, ages 5 and 7, shrieked in excitement. Tightening the straps of my heavy backpack over my shoulders, I nodded and grinned back at them as we…

Lifting his toothbrush toward his mouth, my husband, Dave, grimaced in pain. “Elbow still bothering you?” I asked, although I already knew that his elbow and shoulders had been causing him increasing discomfort for months. You’d think a tiny, almost weightless thing like a toothbrush shouldn’t be painful to…

Women with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) tend to be older and have longer, more active disease than men, a small study in Turkey has found. They also tend to have more inflammation of the enthesis, which is where a tendon or ligament inserts into the bone, and peripheral arthritis, or…

Yesterday I did something that I instantly regretted. I was shopping online for a birthday present for a family member who lives in New Zealand, scanning through websites and comparing sizes and prices, looking for the perfect gift. Finally, I added what looked like a beautiful pair of warm sheepskin…

Driving through early-morning city traffic on the way to a Western Australia hospital for my rheumatology appointment, I had what felt like a hundred questions running through my head. Because of COVID-19, I hadn’t been able to see a rheumatologist face to face since lockdowns put the clamps on…

Lately, I’ve had an enormous grin plastered across my face, thanks to lots of exciting life events happening over the last three months. This week, I’m holding my very first art exhibition, which I’ve been feverishly preparing for. In addition, I was recently offered an amazing part-time job, as well…