Background
Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a rare type of degenerative arthritis that silently affects young people, and that, without timely treatment, progresses until the spine fuses together causing irreversible damage.
The challenge is that it is very hard to recognize. Only 1 in 20 people with AS receive a timely diagnosis, which means people can waste up to eleven years in a state of uncertainty and pain, looking for answers and not knowing that only rheumatologists can properly diagnose and treat it. Especially given these young patients usually associate "rheumatism" or "arthritis" with their grandparents.
Reaching those undiagnosed patients is...