# New Disease of the Day: Ankylosing Spondylitis **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 20, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407 "2013-03-20T01:16:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407/61 "2015-03-03T22:34:33Z")
I would just like to bitch about all the lames around me who claim every headache they get is a “migraine”. Talk about a way too over-self-diagnosed condition. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407/62 "2015-03-03T22:59:39Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > I would just like to bitch about all the lames around me who claim every headache they get is a “migraine”. Talk about a way too over-self-diagnosed condition. Anyone who says that should immediately be stricken by a _real_ migraine. I’ve had headaches. I’ve had migraines. They ain’t the same thing. (Hell, sometimes the headache isn’t even the worst part of it!) ---
**Author:** ![\_ies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/bbe5ce/32.png) [@\_ies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_ies)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407/63 "2015-03-03T23:01:03Z")
My apologies if my arguments seem a bit all over the place I’m still a bit sedated from the procedure I just had. All I’m saying is I’ve not heard of anyone walking around pretending to be one of those coolkids with spondyloarthropathies. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407/64 "2015-03-03T23:05:33Z")
And because you’ve never personally encountered them, clearly, they must not exist. ---
**Author:** ![\_ies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/bbe5ce/32.png) [@\_ies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_ies)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407/65 "2015-03-03T23:15:18Z")
Is your job here to just troll people? Go fuck yourself. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407/66 "2015-03-04T00:15:10Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Anyone who says that should immediately be stricken by a _real_ migraine. I’ve had headaches. I’ve had migraines. They ain’t the same thing. (Hell, sometimes the headache isn’t even the worst part of it!) The vomiting has my vote. I really hate upchucking. Though the boost in sensitivity to my skin can be a torment, I hate it when the sheets feel like sandpaper. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407/67 "2015-03-04T02:12:24Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’m not sure what you think my job here entails, but I’d be absolutely _fascinated_ to find out. Curing Ankylosing Spondylitis, obviously. Get on it! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407/68 "2015-03-04T02:14:43Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > “ **e** ffecting a limp” > > Thought you’d want to know… I do not use words incorrectly. I have been accused of much here, often accurately, but I do NOT use words incorrectly. Um, usually. > [@\_ies](#): > > I accused the OP of ignorance in his post on this one specific subject not the entirety of the Straight Dope. My apologies if that wasn’t clear. > > Ankylosing spondylitis is nothing new [Ankylosing spondylitis - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankylosing_spondylitis#History) > and it’s not an overly diagnosed disease. The only way to be diagnosed is with MRI (or xrays if the disease has progressed.) It’s not some bullshit over-diagnosed condition like ADD or asperger’s. Agreed, and if you re-read the OP with an open mind and one not closed by your reaction to its title you will see that I am in full agreement with you and only object to ad campaigns that associate vague and extremely common symptoms to uncommon diseases in order to drum up extra business from hypochondriacs. > [@dropzone](#): > > I’m sick of people deciding they are sick or disabled (I’m looking at YOU, Wife, not just the sister you make fun of) with whatever the new thing is. AND IF SHE HAD TREATED HER SYMPTOMS APPROPRIATELY TWO YEARS AGO, FOR A CONDITION SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH SIX YEARS AGO, HER TYPE 2 DIABETES WOULD NOT HAVE GRADUATED AND TRIED TO KILL HER ONE YEAR AGO. Harumph! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407/69 "2015-03-04T02:30:21Z")
> [@\_ies](#): > > Is your job here to just troll people? Go fuck yourself. No, it’s mostly my job to do this: [Moderating] **|ies** , telling other posters to fuck themselves is a violation of the Pit’s rules on acceptable language, which are outlined [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=508858). Please avoid doing this in the future. No warning issued. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407/70 "2015-03-04T03:49:22Z")
> [@\_ies](#): > > Is your job here to just troll people? Go fuck yourself. If he does that he might come down with a _real_ case of Ankylosing Spondylitis. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407/71 "2015-03-04T19:48:46Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > If he does that he might come down with a _real_ case of Ankylosing Spondylitis. I haven’t read any details. Is the anus involved? ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407/72 "2015-03-05T07:39:51Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I haven’t read any details. Is the anus involved? As the object of the epithet “go fuck yourself” is a male, the anus, as well as the penis, would certainly be involved, thereby causing at least a minimum amount of discomfort in the lower spinal column should the subject attempt execute this peculiar activity. But, not to worry, because there’s a pill for that. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407/73 "2015-03-05T14:51:02Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > As the object of the epithet “go fuck yourself” is a male, the anus, as well as the penis, would certainly be involved, thereby causing at least a minimum amount of discomfort in the lower spinal column should the subject attempt execute this peculiar activity. But, not to worry, because there’s a pill for that. 😛 Not sure it would be painful – it might be perceived as more of a massage. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407/74 "2015-03-06T16:33:35Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > The one I heard was definitely a “see your rheumatologist” ad. It’s weird, though. It’s phrased with all this “it’s not your fault” stuff, as if people with arthritis and bulging discs and spina bifida are somehow responsible for their own back pain. :rolleyes: You’ve got to watch those hypochondriacs with spina bifida… > [@](#): > > Sometimes I think the anti-“Big Pharma” conspiracy theorists have a point. I agree with you. I have chronic migraine. Have had it since the early 2000s, when it wasn’t really a diagnosis. I had to hire an attorney to get my employer to recognize that 20 migraines (plus nausea, vomiting, and intolerance to any noise) in a month made it impossible for me to work… But once Botox became approved for chronic migraine, suddenly everyone and their brother had heard of it. I’m glad there’s a treatment, but jesus, I had to suffer with no treatment and no one believing me! And get off my lawn! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-disease-of-the-day-ankylosing-spondylitis/653407.md?page=3)