Hello Ella,
I have the SAME fear as you do and would NOT want my son who is now 10 to suffer as I have! He also has a white patch on his chest that he has had since he was an infant which does not show up unless he gets tan, it may have gone away since I never paid any mind to it. He has been complaining about his knees aching at night on and off for years now. I attributed the pain to "growing pains". I will have to talk to the Dr. about this next time he goes, it's only happens about every other month or so (usually at bed time so I don't know if he is just trying to stay up or what)...
I have an Identical Twin sister who would have the same complaints at night. She does not have AS, I have a brother who does not have AS thus far. (my sister and I are 28 and my brother is 20) So basically the condition IS genetic but my identical twin does not have it and we have the same DNA so their are outside triggers involved. But even the Dr's aren't sure exactly what they are. I agree with ALL above that their are scientific break throughs happening EVERY day!! Scientists are giving our condition a lot more attention then they did in the past! Also Keeping our children aware of safe sex practices is definitely a no- brainer but for us HLA-B27 positive or carriers getting chlamydia or any kind of infection in the gut could cause BIG problems. Trudi is right, I believe my son sympathizes with my pain and it is great to keep them informed and on a healthy diet! But I really would be making myself a mess if I was worrying about him getting sick in the future, I have to worry about myself right now so I can be the best Mom I can be and make sure he grows up right and doesn't start doing drugs or anything like that.
----J
