Comments on: An Apple a Day

By: Kelly Johnston

Kelly Johnston — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 17:34:12 +0000

If corrections can be made, then you should remove the “Who’s at Risk” part that says “Being a Male 17-45″ With a side note that it can affect women and children. REALLY? Your ARTICLE is about a WOMAN with AS. Many many diseases affect more men than women or more women than men, but they do not say only one sex or the other is at risk. AS is an equal opportunist. It affects humans, all ages, both sexes, it does not discriminate. And it is pretty well accepted in the AS community that the only reason on paper it states more men get the disease is because of ignorant drs who think it is a man’s disease and then refuse to diagnose a woman correctly. Too many misdiagnosed under recognized women have this disease. Did you know that Diabetes affects twice as many men as women? But they dont write an article and say only men are at risk, with women as a side note. SO why would it be good reporting to say only men are at risk???? Please change this and instead say “Being between the ages of 17-45 puts a person at risk* *However it can affect children as well.” I believe I speak for every single woman in the AS community who was told their pain was in their head, that they were depressed, that they couldnt possibly have AS because it is a MAN’s Disease. Please DO NOT DISCRIMINATE, and change your Who’s At Risk Section. You owe it to Jenna, who is a WOMAN with AS.

By: Cookie

Cookie — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 02:31:00 +0000

I would personally like to thank the Saturday Evening Post for allowing this article to be posted. As a woman who waited thirty two difficult long years to be diagnosed you can’t begin to understand the gratitude in my heart that you would do this. We all work hard to make this invisible disease visible, Thank you for giving us a chance to be heard. Blessings to you all.

By: Elin

Elin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:52:36 +0000

Thank you very much, Kate. We truly appreciate your edit and the work on this article.

Many thanks,
Elin

By: Kate Harbourn

Kate Harbourn — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 20:31:32 +0000

Thank you to Elin and Anna for alerting us to our mistake about chiropractic treatments. We have removed the reference to it as an alternative treatment and appreciate the extra information that you have added.

By: Elin

Elin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:45:19 +0000

Thank you, Saturday Evening Post! This is a beautiful article and we are thrilled to have a story about spondylitis in your wonderful publication. Congratulations, Jenna on your continued success and many accomplishments in the world of health advocacy! You have done an amazing job raising spondylitis awareness with your apples and we are so very proud of you! Job well done!

A note: If we may offer a correction to the “what might help” section in your article. You mention chiropractic care, which is indeed listed on our website under alternative treatments, please see: http://www.spondylitis.org/about/alternative.aspx
What we say about chiropractic care on our website, however, is this:

“Some people with spondylitis swear by regular chiropractic sessions, but doctors do not recommend this treatment for ankylosing spondylitis.

“Anyone with limited spinal mobility due to [spondylitis] should avoid manipulation of their back or neck by chiropractors and masseurs because it can be dangerous,” claims Dr. Muhammad Asim Khan, rheumatologist, and AS patient. Dr. Khan explains that chiropractic treatments have sometimes inadvertently led to spinal fractures and neurological complications, especially in individuals with fusion (extra bone growth) due to spondylitis.”

For more information about Ankylosing Spondylitis, please visit our “about AS” page, here – http://www.spondylitis.org/about/as.aspx

Thank you again to all involved in this article for helping raise awareness for Ankylosing Spondylitis and related diseases

All my best,
Elin Aslanyan

Programs Manger
Spondylitis Association of America

PS: Apologies if this is a double post. I’m not sure if my previous comment was received, as I do not see it. Thanks again.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:19:19 +0000

Thanks for publishing a good article concerning Ankylosing Spondylitis. I was diagnosed with the disease in 1984, and at that time I felt very isolated, as if I were the only one with this painful and persistent disease. Jenna is a lovely person; I have had the privilege of reading her blog and being involved in some of the awareness campaigns she has been a part of this past year. The only complaint I have about the article, overall, is found in the bulleted section “Who is at Risk”. When raising awareness about AS, it is important to note that there are many women with AS. Identifying men between the ages of 17-45 as being at risk, with only an asterisked note that women and older adults can get it too, is misleading and helps to further perpetuate the erroneous notion that only men suffer from AS. In addition, children are diagnosed with AS too, so it is good to keep in mind that AS is not specific to males between the ages of 17-45; indeed, it can be said that with respect to age and gender, Ankylosing Spondylitis is an “equal opportunity” disease.

By: Jennifer Dye Vissche

Jennifer Dye Vissche — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:56:15 +0000

Thank you very much for sharing my story. It is very difficult to live with a disease that causes so much pain and difficulty and that others cannot see because outwardly we look fine. I started this project to try to reach outside of my health community and share what we go through with AS and the related diseases. My hope was to find a way to talk with and reach a larger audience so that people might understand and be helped sooner. I urge people to see a rheumatologist if they experience persistent back pain that lasts longer than 3 months and to know the facts of this disease. The HLA-B27 test is not a conclusive test for having AS. I am in fact negative for the gene as are many others. Also – there are many more women with AS than is generally thought so thinking that mostly men get AS is really not the case. I hope that by sharing my story it may help people be diagnosed and get help and good care sooner. Thank you again. Jenna Visscher

By: Anna West

Anna West — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:21:58 +0000

Chiropractic treatment is NOT recommended, do to the nature of the spinal growths, chiropractic treatment can cause additional damage.