Ankylosing Spondylitis

Ankylosing Spondylitis

I have ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a form of arthritis most people have never even heard of. AS causes inflammation along the spinal column, resulting in back pain and stiffness. (Ankylosing means "rigid," spondy- is "spine," and -itis means "inflammation").

Men develop AS 2.5 times more often than women. Current estimates are that it affects about 318,000 men and 127,000 women. Ninety percent of cases develop between the ages of 20 and 40, but I wasn't diagnosed until I was 60, after my slipped disk operation in 1991.

While no one knows what causes AS, there's been some suggestion that it may be an autoimmune disease, a description that also fits rheumatoid arthritis, another kind of joint disease. Normally, the immune system attacks only invading microbes, which keeps you from succumbing to infection. Sometimes, however, the immune system gets confused about what it's supposed to be attacking and turns its lethal power against the body itself. Depending upon what part of the body it attacks, any number of so-called autoimmune diseases can result.

Pain Gets a Grip

In my case, AS has affected the vertebrae in my neck, the disks between the vertebrae and the surrounding ligaments and connective tissue. They're stiff and painful, and occasionally pressure on the nerve roots causes pain to radiate down my arms. AS has also made me lean forward a bit.

It often takes years for AS to be diagnosed, because many people assume that it's ordinary low back pain, which is very common. (AS often makes its appearance in the low back.) If AS remains untreated, the risk is lifelong back disability. The chronic inflammation can destroy the cartilage between the vertebrae. AS can also lead to bony growths that fuse the vertebrae and cause permanent spinal rigidity.

When I slipped a disk and had surgery, my expensive neurosurgeon dismissed exercise, saying that it wouldn't help me because of my AS. If I ever happen to run into him again, I'll be sure to tell him that exercise has worked quite well to help relieve the pain these last five years. I'll also be sure to tell him that the kind of operation that he performed on me is now regarded as medically useless.

While he was deep inside my neck, my neurosurgeon performed a cervical fusion, meaning that he fused two of the vertebrae. That's exactly what Nature was doing all along, just going about it a little more slowly. Fused disks are exactly what happens eventually with ankylosing spondylitis. Maybe I just should have waited for Nature to take its course. Maybe not. I'll never know.

Green Pharmacy for Ankylosing Spondylitis

My neurosurgeon also said that there are no herbal approaches to back problems. What he should have said was that there were none that he knew of. In fact, several herbs can help. I should be clear right here that herbs won't cure your AS. If you have it, get yourself a good rheumatologist and follow his advice. But herbs can definitely help. They've helped me.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale). Ginger contains zingibain, a special kind of proteolytic enzyme that has the ability to chemically break down protein. Adolph's meat tenderizer works because it contains this kind of enzyme.

Clinical studies have shown that proteolytic enzymes have anti-inflammatory properties, according to noted naturopath Michael Murray, N.D., co-author of Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine and several other scholarly books on nutritional and naturopathic healing. That means that they should help relieve AS.

Proteolytic enzymes, of which there are several besides zingibain, also play an additional role in controlling autoimmune diseases. They help reduce blood levels of compounds known as immune complexes, high levels of which activate the immune system to attack the body itself, ultimately leading to tissue damage.

Fresh ginger root contains as much as 2 percent zingibain, which according to at least one researcher, Paul Schulick, New England herbalist and author of Ginger: Common Spice and Wonder Drug, is as powerful an enzyme as the bromelain in pineapple or the papain in papaya. He insists that ginger is one of nature's richest sources of proteolytic enzymes, containing approximately 180 times more than the papaya plant.

Ginger is also well-known for its anti-inflammatory properties. Indian and Scandinavian studies have consistently shown that ginger (and closely related turmeric) is useful for treating most kinds of arthritis.

Ginger also contains more than 12 antioxidants, which help neutralize the highly reactive molecules--free radicals--that play a role in causing inflammation.

Finally, Schulick also notes that ginger offers a big advantage over mainstream medicine's treatment of choice for AS, which is nonsteroidal anti-
inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Aspirin and other NSAIDs are hard on the stomach, and long-term use can lead to ulcers. Ginger does not cause stomach problems.

I enjoy ginger, and I hope it's helping to postpone any serious complications of AS for me. You can take ginger as an herb in tea, tincture or capsules. It's also a tasty spice that you can use generously in the kitchen. A dish prepared with ginger will actually give you a medicinal dose of the herb.

Pineapple (Ananas comosus). Like ginger, pineapple contains a proteolytic enzyme, called bromelain.

Dr. Murray recommends taking 400 to 600 milligrams of bromelain three times daily on an empty stomach. You can buy pure bromelain in natural food stores.

Liking pineapple as I do, I prefer to get my bromelain from the natural source, so I eat lots of pineapple. In addition to zingibain and bromelain, there are several other potent proteolytic enzymes that should have similar effects. You can get these enzymes by eating the fruits and herbs that contain them. The best sources include breadfruit, ginger, kiwifruit, papaya and figs.

Corn (Zea mays). How well I remember my first trip to Amazonian Peru back in 1991. I was suffering the indignity of one of those neck (cervical) collars. It helped correct that forward-leaning head posture that so many old men are prone to exhibit, especially those with AS. But in the Amazonian humidity, the collar really chafed, and it seemed to hurt my neck more than it helped my spine.

Back home, I would have rubbed on some soothing talcum powder. But I didn't have any until one nice ecotouring lady, with an Alabama accent like mine, gave me some of her "tropical talcum powder"--finely pulverized cornstarch. She had wisely brought this along to avoid just such chafing problems herself. When she applied the first sprinkling to my aching neck, relief was almost immediate. Then she gave me a plastic bag with my own stash of finely powdered cornstarch. I'm not suggesting cornstarch to alleviate AS itself, just to help relieve the dermatitis you might have if you happen to be strapped into a cervical collar as a result of having this condition.

Pigweed (Amaranthus, various species). There's no doubt that getting enough calcium helps prevent osteoporosis. I believe it's useful for preventing AS as well.

In my database, pigweed is the best plant source of calcium. Other plants that are also good sources of the essential mineral include lamb's-quarters, stinging nettle, broadbeans, watercress, licorice, marjoram, savory, red clover shoots, thyme, Chinese cabbage, basil, celery seed, chaya, dandelion and purslane.

I recommend eating green leafy vegetables often as a regular part of your meals. It's also good practice to drink broths or potlikkers made from these plants between meals.

Vegetarianism. Several studies and a good deal of anecdotal evidence suggest that a low-calorie vegetarian diet helps alleviate the pain and inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis. Research has shown that this type of diet helps relieve the symptoms of a broad range of autoimmune diseases. If AS is, in fact, a form of autoimmune arthritis, then a calorie-restricted vegetarian diet should help relieve this condition as well.

This type of diet is good for health and longevity in general, even if you don't have an autoimmune condition. And if you do have AS, at the very least, this diet can help you lose weight, which takes pressure off arthritic joints. Considering our evolutionary past, I can't recommend strict vegetarianism. I prefer Jeffersonian vegetarianism, letting meat be a "spice" rather than a major meal constituent.