Ankylosing spondylitis is a cruel condition. A painful form of inflammatory arthritis, it affects the spine most commonly but other joints, tendons and ligaments can also be affected too. Symptoms include pain, stiffness and fatigue and usually start in late teens. The current delay in diagnosis stands at 8 and half years.
It was eye opening to meet with some sufferers of the condition and a constituent of mine, Phil Vincent, at a reception for the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society in Parliament. More awareness is needed among healthcare professionals to speed up diagnosis along with more research into treatments to alleviate the pain.