Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Vitiligo (a skin pigmentation disorder)

Vitiligo is associated with Spondyloarthritis:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11246668&dopt=Abstract

J Rheumatol. 2001 Feb;28(2):313-4.
Association between vitiligo and spondyloarthritis.
Padula A, Ciancio G, La Civita L, Scarano E, Ricciuti F, Piccirillo A, Olivieri I.
Rheumatology Department of Lucania, S. Carlo Hospital, Potenza, Italy.

OBJECTIVE: To establish if spondyloarthritis (SpA) and vitiligo occur together more frequently than by chance. METHODS: All consecutive patients with SpA seen in a 6 month period were evaluated for vitiligo by an experienced dermatologist. The control group included the 2 consecutive patients without SpA seen after each patient with SpA. RESULTS: Two hundred thirty-four patients with SpA (131 men, 103 women; mean age 59 +/- 18.3 yrs) were seen in the study period. Of these, 43 had ankylosing spondylitis (AS), 112 psoriatic arthritis (PsA), 14 SpA associated with inflammatory bowel disease, 64 undifferentiated SpA, and one reactive arthritis. The 468 control patients (360 women, 108 men; mean age 68.5 +/- 2 yrs) had various degenerative and inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Eight (3.4%) patients out of 234 with SpA had type A vitiligo. In the control group, 5 (1.06%) out of 468 had type A vitiligo. The difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Of the 8 patients with coexisting vitiligo and SpA, 4 had PsA, 2 primary AS, one AS associated with Crohn’s disease, and one undifferentiated SpA. Of the 5 patients with vitiligo in the control group, one had rheumatoid arthritis, one Sjogren’s syndrome, one palindromic rheumatism, one crystal arthropathy, and one osteoarthritis. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that vitiligo and SpA do not coexist by chance and that vitiligo should be included in the list of diseases associated with SpA.

PMID: 11246668 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

There is some discussion of Vitiligo and AS here:
http://bbs.spondylitis.org/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=000081

Posted by zarkme in 10:54:48 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Does Michael Jackson have AS?

I am a sufferer of Ankylosing Spondylitis, and the symptoms being observed in Michael Jackson sound oh so very familiar. Also, Vitiligo is associated with spondyloarthropathies (see this link) and we already know that Jackson claims to have Vitiligo (as the reason why his skin is now white).

quoted from: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=52061

“The 46-year-old pop icon sat ramrod straight in his chair and dabbed his eyes [..]At times Jackson was rushed to a nearby hospital, arrived at court in pyjamas or was so zonked out on painkillers that he could barely sit.[..]The eccentric singer was obviously worn down by the long trial, losing weight as well as suffering back spasms.”


quoted from: http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/special4/article.adp?id=20050608123609990001

“Anxiety has a habit of making Jackson sick. At least four times during his trial, he checked into hospital with flu, back pain or dehydration.”


quoted from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1134222.cms

” The well-known US minister, a Jackson family friend, said he met with the popstar at a hospital overnight on Sunday where Jackson received treatment for a back ailment. [...] “Physically he is in excruciating pain … He’s had these back spasms and as even we talked last night he was grimacing in physical pain,” Jackson said of the world reknown singer, who left a hospital near his Neverland estate late Sunday, about six hours after he was admitted to the emergency room for back pain. “

Posted by zarkme in 10:52:27 | Permalink | Comments (2)