Hi, mig:
This is one of the groups that Ebringer was specifically looking for, but in over 20 years he never found one person who had classic symptoms without the greatly increased IgA-Kp. Even HLA-B27 negatives who have things like Crohn's Disease and other neggies with mild symptoms had this test elevated during the active phases of their illness. His original premise was that Kp were a cause of AS, but that changed to the cause after years of study. He still points out that, perhaps somewhere at some time some disease identical to AS could occur in a person that is not caused by Kp; the 'vegetarian tiger' dilemma (since you have not looked at EVERY tiger, you cannot really make the statement that none are vegetarian).
The point is that the actual chances of me being the lucky ASer who does not respond to diet because of a different disease mechanism are insignificant--if even in the realm of numerically real possibilities; the odds are worse than most lotteries. Those who do not respond to diet will certainly respond to diet plus an antibiotic protocol, if properly managed (after eliminating the candidiasis potential).
I know that the diet cannot take down an established massive colonization by Kp; such an 'infection' is totally independent of gut activity and elimination must then be very aggressive. The RBF is stuck on mycobacteria and minocycline, so most of their doctors will not prescribe the most effective antibiotics against AS; there are few options besides self-treatment in such advanced conditions. We might be able to make up a prediction table, based upon the number or severity of sequelae, but things like GERD and asthma are certain indicators that diet alone will either take very long or require some antibiotic therapy in conjunction.
--And the point of that seeming digression is that there certainly does appear to be two distinct groups, but there is at least one alternative explanation that does not require a different disease mechanism.
The discussion is not so far out; even some of the researchers are so confused that they are looking for different genetic components to modulate the B27 to explain very minor differences in disease progression--anything for a grant. AS will be the most studied disease in history--in every direction but the right one because the right answer will put a hold on future grant monies...besides, NIH still stands for Not Invented Here.
Best to You,
John
A punk stopped me on the street and said: "You got a light Mack?"
