M Perspectives

I am calling on the Royal College of General Practitioners to instigate a wider teaching of the diagnosis of Joint Hyper-mobility Syndrome/Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and to make more GP's aware of the condition. I personally have suffered most of my life with this condition, but was only diagnosed 2 years ago at the age of 27, and only then by a Physiotherapist I had been referred to as my GP thought I had Arthritis. If you are unsure of what Joint Hyper-mobility Syndrome/Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is, this is how the NHS site describes it: Joint hypermobility syndrome/Ehlers-Danlos syndrome Many people with hypermobile joints don't have any problems, and some people – such as ballet dancers, gymnasts and musicians – may actually benefit from the increased flexibility. However, some people with joint hypermobility can have a number of unpleasant symptoms as well, such as: pain and stiffness in the joints and muscles clicking joints joints that dislocate (come out of the correct position) easily fatigue (extreme tiredness) recurrent injuries – such as sprains digestive problems – such as constipation and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) dizziness and fainting thin or stretchy skin If hypermobility occurs alongside symptoms such as these, it is known as joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS). I will also add there are multiple other side effects, A 1998 study linked panic disorders and joint hypermobility. The prevalence of joint hypermobility syndrome among patients with a panic disorder was 67.7% compared to the control psychiatric group (10.1%). Women and younger subjects were found to be over 20 times more likely to have hypermobile joints than their counterparts in the control group. The study also found a higher prevalence for mitral valve prolapse (8%). Depression and anxiety were other correlated symptoms.[3] A 2003 study found that 78% of people with hypermobility also had orthostatic intolerance, which can lead to chronically high adrenalin and chronic anxiety. There is a simple 5 minute test every GP can do to check for them - The Beighton score. I am calling for this to be implemented into all GP's training and that they are more pro-active in using it to assess patients so others can be diagnosed quicker, leading to better medical support, better welfare understanding and in the long run saving the NHS money by counteracting the damage earlier in patients. Thank you for your support.