Have you been diagnosed with Reactive Arthritis?

A number of people from the US have written to tell me they’ve been diagnosed with Reactive Arthritis, and is there a link to Ankylosing Spondylitis, because  their symptoms seem the same.  In a word:  yes.  Reactive Arthritis is a general name for various forms of arthritis which are caused by the immune system reacting to an infection or bacterium or virus elsewhere in the body.

Until recently it was usually the term used for a condition called Reiter’s Syndrome, which was characterised by (1) inflamed joints, (2) inflammation of the eyes (conjunctivitis) and (3) inflammation of the genital, urinary or gastrointestinal system.  Reactive Arthritis is now the preferred name for this condition, since the history of Dr. Hans Reiter’s dubious past of enthusiastically embracing Nazo politics and medical abominations, has come to light.

Reactive Arthritis was a term first used by the Finns in 1973-4 for arthritic symptoms which had been caused by food poisoning with dysentary from either the Shigella, Salmonella or Yersinia bacteria.  But Professor Alan Ebringer recognised that all these are close relatives of Klebsiella, although Klebsiella does not cause the symptoms of food poisoning because it is a normal bowel microbe found in most people.

However, in recent years, rheumatologists are beginning to accept that Klebsiella is commonly implicated in Ankylosing Spondylits, and the term HLA-B27 Reactive Arthritis is beginning to be used.

Anyone who has had numerous diagnoses from various rheumatologists will probably be aware that a number of different names are often given to forms of arthritis with similar symptoms.  Gradually the rheumatology world is beginning to see the wood for the trees.  Here is a statement from one authoritive source:

Reactive arthritis is considered a systemic rheumatic disease.  This means it can affect other organs than the joints, causing inflammation in tissues such as the eyes, mouth, skin, kidneys, heart and lungs.  Reactive arthritis shares many features with several other arthritic conditions, such as psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and arthritis associated with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.  Each of these arthritis conditions can cause similar disease and inflammation in the spine and other joints, eyes, skin, mouth and various organs.  In view of their similarities and tendency to inflame the spine, these conditions are collectively referred to as “spondyloarthropathies”.