Hi Tim
The point I was trying to make about .."the worst cases of mis-diagnosis by the most incompetent rheumatologist" is that such people probably exist among the people I see diagnosed with AS. If a study did not include patients like these the conclusions reached would not necessarily apply to them. Those correctly diagnosed with AS may nearly all respond to diet, as shown by the study, but no-one would know how the mis-diagnosed would respond. They could be the ones in the general AS population who did not respond.
Your question about "..a proper diagnosis for AS.." covers quite a lot of what has been written on this thread. My rheumatologist diagnosed me based on - B27+, ankylosed spine, history of back problems and current back pain, ESR 21 - and I suspect that's about all. I think he asked me questions about symptoms just to humour me. Look back in the thread and you will see that Bilko and John have said that Ebringer placed great significance on a Klebsiella antibody test which is not normally used in diagnosis. The subject of AS diagnosis is also covered in the 'AS Dietary Primer'.
I am sorry I did not ask all the details of the AS patient you referred to. It was a casual conversation and I stuck to questions about diet. He was of interest because he was neither on NSAID or NSD. I spoke to another AS patient tonight who is in the same category (neither NSAID or NSD) but he is aware of response to starch. He maintains (with some enthusiasm) that he has been able to improve his condition and reduce his pain by use of Glucosamine and Chondroitin to replace the NSAID. I also take these supplements but in faith only. I have no idea if they are helping or not.
The latter patient is also interesting in the context of this thread. One of the arguments for NSD is that it helps you go off NSAIDs. But he is taking good supplements instead which do not have the nasty side-effects of NSAID. He knows that avoiding starch improves his symptoms but he can balance that against the pleasure he gets from eating food with starch.
Wally
