The National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society is a charity organisation based in Richmond upon Thames, aiding people suffering with ankylosing spondylitis.
The NASS is a charity organisation based in Richmond upon Thames, aiding people suffering with ankylosing spondylitis. Ankylosing spondylitisis a painful, progressive, rheumatic disease. It mainly affects the spine but it can also affect other joints, tendons and ligaments. Other areas, such as the eyes, lungs, bowel and heart can also be involved.
Is AS common?
AS affects approximately 1 in 200 men and 1 in 500 women in Britain.
Who gets AS?
Men, women and children can all suffer from AS. It typically strikes people in their late teens and twenties, with the average age being 24. However, symptoms can start at other periods of life. AS is more common in men, with nearly three times as many men having it as women.
What are the symptoms of AS?
Typical symptoms of AS include:
- Slow or gradual onset of back pain and stiffness over weeks or months, rather than hours or days.
- Early-morning stiffness and pain, wearing off or reducing during the day with exercise.
- Persistence for more than three months (as opposed to coming on in short attacks).
- Feeling better after exercise and feeling worse after rest.
- Weight loss, especially in the early stages.
- Fatigue.
- Feeling feverish and experiencing night sweats.
Is there a cure for AS?
Alas, there is not! Anti-inflammatory drugs will help to reduce pain and improve your sleep and general well-being. But drugs are only half the answer. Appropriate exercise is crucial to managing your AS.
AS affects approximately 1 in 200 men and 1 in 500 women in Britain.
Who gets AS?
Men, women and children can all suffer from AS. It typically strikes people in their late teens and twenties, with the average age being 24. However, symptoms can start at other periods of life. AS is more common in men, with nearly three times as many men having it as women.
What are the symptoms of AS?
Typical symptoms of AS include:
- Slow or gradual onset of back pain and stiffness over weeks or months, rather than hours or days.
- Early-morning stiffness and pain, wearing off or reducing during the day with exercise.
- Persistence for more than three months (as opposed to coming on in short attacks).
- Feeling better after exercise and feeling worse after rest.
- Weight loss, especially in the early stages.
- Fatigue.
- Feeling feverish and experiencing night sweats.
Is there a cure for AS?
Alas, there is not! Anti-inflammatory drugs will help to reduce pain and improve your sleep and general well-being. But drugs are only half the answer. Appropriate exercise is crucial to managing your AS.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF NASS:
- Guidebook For Patients
NASS produces and distributes to rheumatologists and physiotherapists a 24 page "Guidebook for Patients". The society has donated over 110,000 of these books and continues to receive daily requests from hospitals and individuals.
- Newsletter
This is the NASS flagship twice yearly membership publication. Amongst other things, the journal continues the society's aims of patient education. Many members of the medical profession have long considered this the country's best disease specific journal.
- Other Publications
NASS produces other booklets, as well as an exercise cassette tape, and video and DVD film (Fight Back).
- Support Branches
NASS forms and supports a network of branches around the country. Each branch is run by a committee consisting of highly motivated spondylitics, and is backed by physiotherapists who support the branch members through supervised physiotherapy sessions herd one evening a week.
- Educational Symposia
Most years NASS organises a symposium in a different city. Consultant rheumatologists, other doctors and scientists, and members of the para-medical professions, present a day-long series of lectures on different aspects of the condition.
- Research
Britain is one of the two or three leading countries researching into this condition and other forms of arthritis. Ankylosing spondylitis is a very variable condition and new information is beginning to give doctors information about future progression and disease outcome in their patients.
- Counselling & Advice
NASS receives a daily stream of enquiries by email, post, and telephone, from people who have the condition seeking advice on all aspects of the disease. They frequently turn to NASS as they know that most of their GPs are not equipped with sufficient knowledge to answer most of their questions.
- Educating Members of The Medical & Paramedical Professions
A selected number of rheumatologists and physiotherapists receive the Newsletter free of charge. NASS is also frequently asked to give talks at conferences organised by medical special interest groups (ie: nurses in rheumatology). The society also attends most major rheumatology meetings.
- Funding of The Society - Make a donation
How is the society funded? With difficulty is the short answer. Approximately 55% of our annual income is from members' subscriptions, 25% from donations from head office fund raising, 10% from internal sales and donations, and the remaining 10% from sundries. Small societies such as NASS are finding that funding from outside donors has become progressively harder in the face of the recession.
For more information on NASS, contact us on
0208 948 9117
Mention thebestofrichmond
when contacting NASS, a charity working in
Richmond upon Thames
[Charities- Richmond]
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