Could the microbes and flora of your stomach be responsible for the lower back pain you’ve suffered from since your college years? If the latest studies are any indication, your gut may have to do more with your lower back pain than previously thought. Researchers might have found a link to ankylosing spondylitis (AS).
Affecting approximately 2.7 million Americans, ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a form of arthritis that affects the spine and the area near the hips. Unfortunately, AS is quite often misdiagnosed for years before a positive diagnosis is made. Often times, the lower back pain is attributed to some kind of physical stress such as a hard work out or physical labor.
Twice as many men as women will be diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis and this difference in gender may partially explain why it is under diagnosed. Men are less likely to report back pain as a major issue. Most patients report getting symptoms before the age of 30.
Lately, research is showing some promising results in examining the gut biomes of carriers of a certain signature gene that has a link with the development of AS. HLA-B27 is a gene expression found in one out of every 14 U.S. citizens. Carriers with this gene signature have a 100-fold increase in their changes of developing ankylosing spondylitis.
The term microbiome, in the context of this story, refers to the unique environment inside each patient’s gut.
There is an entire community, at the microbial level, that is working in a mutually beneficial way with each patient. But in the case of AS patients with HLA-B27, there seems to be a correlation between the gut biome and the eventual development of AS. The studies are not conclusive on what this relationship means or how it all connects, but it has given researchers another road map to finding a cure or effective treatment for this debilitating disease.
