Can Asperger's Syndrome Become a Genius?

Asperger's syndrome (AS) is a developmental disorder of nervous system characterized by social difficulties, restricted and abnormal interest and behavior patterns, and belongs to the same generalized developmental disorder as autism in classification. The cause of the disease is unknown, and the incidence rate may be much higher than that of childhood autism, which is very harmful to children's mental health.

The reason for editing this paragraph

At present, the cause of childhood diseases is unknown.

However, studies have shown that heredity, biochemistry, virus infection and some problems during pregnancy and childbirth may be the causes of Asperger's syndrome. The probability of developing Asperger's syndrome is 0.07%, that is, on average, 7 babies out of every 1 10,000 newborn babies will be patients.

Edit the symptoms in this paragraph.

symptom

The clinical features of this syndrome are usually described as: patients

(a) Lack of understanding of others' feelings; (b) Inappropriate unilateral social interaction and lack of ability to establish friendship, which leads to social isolation; (c) Dull and monotonous language; Lack of nonverbal communication; (e) In some limited aspects, such as weather, TV programs, train timetables, maps, etc., they show a strong ability to accept, but they just memorize mechanically, but they can't understand it, giving people a strange impression; (f) Clumsy and uncoordinated movements (especially big movements) and strange postures; (g) abnormal pronunciation. Although all cases were boys when Asperger first reported the disease, girls are also found now. However, boys are obviously more likely to get this disease. Although most children have normal IQ, a few children have mild developmental delay. The onset or at least discovery of the disease is often later than autism; Therefore, language and cognitive ability are preserved and usually stable. This higher IQ indicates a better long-term prognosis than autism.

clinical picture

1. Children in social interaction

Qualitative facial injury: Because patients are usually isolated, they often contact others with some unusual or strange actions. Although patients know the existence of others, they are usually self-centered. For example, they will give endless "speeches" to the audience (usually adults), which are generally about his hobbies, or more commonly, some unusual and narrow topics. Most patients consider themselves "loners", and they often express interest in making friends and meeting other people. However, these wishes often fail to understand other people's feelings and wishes (such as being tired of leaving in a hurry, needs and privacy) because of their clumsy communication skills, and they can't make friends again and again, which gradually makes these children feel frustrated. Some people even have symptoms of depression and need medication. In the emotional aspect of social communication, patients often show inappropriate reactions and incorrect explanations in the process of emotional communication, and are slow to respond to other people's emotional expression, rigid in understanding and even indifferent. Nevertheless, they still have the ability to correctly describe others' emotions in a cognitive and inflexible way. The patient's behavioral response strongly depends on formulaic and rigid social behavior norms and social rules, but can't understand others' intentions intuitively and spontaneously, so it often shows a disjointed response. This kind of performance leads to a strong impression of childish and ridiculous social behavior and rigid behavior as a patient. These behaviors of AS patients exist at least partially in autistic patients. The difference is that autistic people shrink back. They seem to be uninterested in the people around them, or unaware of the existence of others. However, because patients are often eager to even try to establish contact with others, they lack the skills to do so. 2. Qualitative defects in language communication: Although there is no obvious functional obstacle in this field in the definition of AS, there are at least three points worthy of attention in language communication skills of AS. ① Although the patient's word state changes and intonation are not as monotonous and rigid as autism, the rhythm of speech is poor, and factual statements and humorous comments often lack cadence. (2) Words are often off topic and accidental, which gives people a loose feeling and lacks internal connection and coherence. Although in some cases, this symptom may indicate some kind of thinking disorder, more often, the lack of coherence and interaction in this kind of speech is the result of self-centered conversation mode (such as long monologues about names and numbers without emotion), which can not provide background information for comments, clarify the change of topics and stop expressing inner thoughts. ③ The most typical feature of patients' communication style is verbose expression, which some authors think is the most obvious feature that distinguishes this disease from other diseases. Patients will always talk about topics they are interested in, whether the audience is interested or listening, and whether they want to interrupt or change the topic. Although a lot is said, there is usually no argument. The other side of the conversation may try to discuss the content or logic of the event, or contact related topics, but it is usually unsuccessful. Although all these manifestations can be explained by major defects in actual language skills or/and lack of insight or awareness of others' expectations, we still need to understand this phenomenon from the perspective of development in order to train patients' social adaptation skills. 3. Limited, repetitive, fixed-pattern behaviors, interests and activities: What is most often observed in AS is complete devotion to limited interests. They have accumulated a lot of factual knowledge about the topics they are interested in, and often show these facts in their first social interaction with others. Although the actual topic can change (for example, every one or two years), it may dominate the social and daily activities of patients, and often immerse the whole family in something for a long time. Although this symptom is not easy to find in childhood (because many children will have a strong interest in dinosaurs and popular anime characters. ) will make the symptoms stand out when the topic gradually becomes unusual and narrow. This behavior is very special, because patients usually learn a lot of factual information about some limited topics (such as snakes, planet name maps, TV programs or railway timetables). 4. Clumsiness: In addition to the above diagnosis basis, there is also a symptom as a related manifestation of AS patients rather than a diagnosis basis, that is, motor retardation and clumsiness. Because patients may have a personal history of backward motor skills development, such as learning to ride a bike later than their peers, catching a ball, opening cans, etc. Usually, they are inflexible, stiff in gait, eccentric in posture, poor in operation skills and obviously deficient in visual-motor coordination. Although this manifestation is contrary to the development pattern of autism (usually motor skills are a relatively strong one in autism), it is similar to the situation observed in adult autistic patients in some aspects. This similarity may be caused by different reasons, for example, just as patients may be caused by psychomotor disorders, in autism, it may be caused by bad self-image and feeling. This requires us to describe this symptom in the context of development.

Edit the diagnosis of this paragraph.

Expression in patients with Asperger's syndrome

The definition of Asperger's disease in DSM-IV (APA 1994) is 1. : 1. There are obstacles in social interaction, which can only be qualitatively judged by the following two situations. ① There are obvious defects in the ability to use some nonverbal behaviors in social communication, such as eye contact, facial expression, body posture and gestures; (2) unable to establish an appropriate partnership commensurate with their age; (3) Lack of spontaneous desire to find others to share happiness, preference or success; ④ Lack of communication and emotional reciprocity; 2. Persisting in repetitive and unchangeable patterns in behavior preferences and activities shows at least one of the following situations: ① Always being in one or more unchangeable and limited interest patterns, and the intensity and concentration of interest are abnormal; (2) Obvious and stubborn adherence to some special meaningless procedures and ceremonies; (3) Keep some special habits formed by yourself repeatedly; (4) Pay attention to a certain part of the object for a long time; 3. The above obstacles have seriously damaged children's function in social interaction, occupation or other important fields. 4. There is no obvious overall delay in language development with clinical significance (for example, you can speak single words before two years old and use conversation phrases before three years old). 5. There is no obvious clinical delay in the development of children's cognitive ability, self-care ability, adaptive behavior (except social aspects) and curiosity about the external environment. 6. Do not meet other clear diagnostic criteria for generalized developmental delay and schizophrenia.

Edit this symptom check

For patients with Asperger's syndrome, it is impossible to diagnose the disease through examination. It is mainly to observe and accumulate mental behavior in daily life, pay attention to whether there are special manifestations, and make a diagnosis according to the six requirements in symptom diagnosis.

Edit this disease treatment

Brief introduction of treatment

The treatment of Asperger's syndrome is mainly understanding support, sympathy and tolerance. Special education services are necessary, and the acquisition of basic social skills and other adaptability should be encouraged. It is usually difficult for Asperger patients to participate in intensive insight and cooperative psychotherapy, but supportive psychotherapy focusing on sympathetic nerve problems, social difficulties and depression syndrome is also useful, and accompanying symptoms such as depression can be treated with drugs. Before starting each treatment and intervention program, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive and thorough assessment to understand the child's shortcomings and existing abilities. Comprehensive evaluation includes the evaluation of past and present behavior (or spirit), the situation of neurobiological function, communication mode (especially the ability to achieve certain social goals with language or pragmatics) and adaptive behavior (the ability to tap one's own potential to solve problems encountered in daily life). The final report should describe the child's shortcomings and abilities in these different aspects in detail. Making a correct diagnosis is the last step of evaluation. Every child is different. If you observe a group of children with Asperger's disease, you are likely to be more impressed by their differences than their similarities. Therefore, it is essential that the intervention plan based on comprehensive and extensive evaluation must meet the unique needs and abilities of the given children. A personalized education and treatment plan should be established after an in-depth discussion of a child. This detailed guideline should be used as a set of suggestions and as a reference when making education, treatment and vocational training plans for individual cases. In short, don't take the correct diagnosis for granted, ask some detailed and personalized things about children, and don't accept some comments about children that don't include intervention application ability; And don't accept an intervention plan based only on diagnosis-ask about the appropriate progress of the plan according to the child's current situation, study plan and living conditions, as well as realistic short-term and long-term goals.

medicine

Although there is little information about drug treatment for patients with Asperger's syndrome, conservative treatment based on autism is likely to be adopted. Generally speaking, children should be prevented from receiving drug intervention treatment as much as possible. When patients have depressive symptoms, serious delusions, compulsion or confusion, special drug treatment can be given. Parents should be aware that drug treatment is only aimed at special accompanying symptoms, not at the disease itself.

psychotherapy

Although the existing psychotherapy has not shown much effect on as, a certain degree of centralized and structured counseling service is of great help to AS patients, especially those who are sad, resistant, anxious, have abnormal family function or are frustrated in finding a job and adapting to society.

motortherapy

Is to stimulate the cerebellum through exercise. That is to say, this scheme directly aims at the problem root of learning difficulties-cerebellar retardation, and uses the automatic mechanism of sports to stimulate the cerebellum to improve the efficiency of brain management in specific areas such as reading, writing, attention and motor coordination, and once it is improved, it will not regress. This possibility of changing the physiological characteristics of the brain is called "neuroplasticity".

For concurrent diseases, edit this paragraph.

Due to the lack of social skills, patients with Asperger's syndrome may suffer from depression after many setbacks and need medical treatment.

Edit this paragraph on disease prevention.

self-sufficiency

Although people with Asperger's syndrome have a strong desire to make friends and hope to have a more active social life, they usually describe themselves as loners. We can promote their socialization by participating in various positive group activities (such as church clubs, recreation departments and self-help organizations). Recent empirical research shows that patients with Asperger's syndrome are willing to communicate with other patients with the same problems and can establish relationships through an activity or hobby.

adaptive capacity

In any intervention plan, making patients have enough ability in all aspects should be a priority. Because patients' rigid characteristics can be used to cultivate their good habits and improve their personal and family members' quality of life. The training methods for patients should strictly follow the above guidelines and be carried out routinely in different natural environments to maximize the generalization of skills.

Inadaptive behavior

Patients are usually trained by oral instruction and taught special problem-solving methods to solve frequent and troublesome problems (such as novelty, strong social demands or setbacks in this regard). This kind of training is very necessary for patients to understand the occurrence of problems and choose the best solution.

Social and communication skills

This skill may be best trained by sociologists who are interested in pragmatics, but if social training institutions can provide patients with enough opportunities to contact trainers and practice special skills, they can also receive training in them. Training courses should include the following aspects: 1) Appropriate nonverbal behaviors (such as staring when communicating with people, changing the tone of learning and imitation). These trainings include imitation training in front of the mirror, and so on; 2) Explain other people's nonverbal behaviors with language; 3) Processing visual and auditory information at the same time (cultivating the ability to integrate various stimuli and reducing the difficulty of establishing appropriate social relations); 4) At the same time, cultivate and train patients' social cognition and penetrating skills to correct their vague expressions (such as non-language).

School curriculum

The course content should be compiled according to the long-term goal, so as to evaluate the effectiveness of each project according to the long-term effect on patients' social skills, career potential and quality of life. Emphasis should be placed on those skills that are closely related to patients and those that are considered to be closely related to people's professional life (such as writing skills, computing skills, science). If patients have special interests in one aspect, they should be restricted and regarded as abnormal. It is better to use this interest and talent to find a job in the future. We should systematically cultivate this interest and talent and help patients learn to study in a planned way (such as how to use the library, computer internet, etc. ), and to set up special subjects, so that patients can get more credits. Through the communication between community members and patients, special educational methods can be established. It is often useful to emphasize the use of computer resources, which can be regarded as (1) compensation for the difficulty of typical descriptive motor skills. (2) Stimulating patients' interest in self-study skills includes using network resources. (3) establish contact with other people with the same interests through email. Non-threatening social relations are more conducive to the development of personal contacts, including personal contacts.

Vocational training

Generally speaking, adults with Asperger's syndrome can't meet the job requirements when looking for a job, or they can't carry out a job for a long time because of poor interview skills, poor social skills, eccentric behavior and strong anxiety and aggression. Because they are not qualified for technical jobs, these patients may find manual jobs with the help of kind friends and relatives. However, due to their poor visual motor ability, most of them will fail again, leading to destructive emotional cues. It is very important to provide vocational training for patients with Asperger's syndrome so that they can work in an environment that can be supported and protected to a certain extent (this work must not be limited by their neuropsychological injuries). At the same time, these jobs cannot require high social skills.

Edit the identification of this disease

brief introduction

Asperger's syndrome is easily confused with the following diseases.

Schizophrenic personality disorder in children

Some similar diagnostic concepts, which originated from adult psychiatry, neuropsychology, neurology and other interdisciplinary subjects, have the same performance to some extent. For example, Wolff and his colleagues describe a group of people with abnormal behavior patterns, which are characterized by social isolation, rigid thinking habits and abnormal communication methods. This disease is named childhood-like schizophrenia personality disorder. Unfortunately, there is no further progress in the study of this subject, so it is difficult to determine how many of the cases described here showed symptoms similar to autism in their early years. More generally speaking, it is impossible to fully understand the new direction of research progress of this disorder by understanding AS as a fixed personality characteristic, but these research progress plays an important role in differential diagnosis.

Nonverbal learning disabilities

In neuropsychology, a lot of research focuses on the Non-verbalLearningDisorder (NLD) proposed by Rourk (1989). The main contribution of this study is to describe the significance of children's social emotional development from the perspective of neuropsychology by studying the soundness and defects of neuropsychology that have a negative impact on people's socialization ability and communication style. The neuropsychological characteristics of NLD patients include: tactile sensation, neuromuscular coordination, visual spatial structure defect, non-verbal problem-solving ability defect, incongruity in discrimination and understanding and humor obstacle. NLD patients also show good mechanical language ability and language memory. It is difficult to adapt to the new complex environment; Excessive dependence on mechanical behavior to cope with the new environment; Compared with skilled single-word reading ability, mechanical computing ability is relatively poor; The use and rhythm of language expression are poor; There are obvious defects in social cognition, social judgment and social skills. The understanding of some subtle and obvious nonverbal communication has obvious defects, and it is often discriminated and rejected by others. The results show that NLD patients have obvious social withdrawal tendency, and the risk of developing serious emotional disorder is high.

Right brain syndrome

Many clinical features of NLD are described as developmental learning difficulties in the right hemisphere of the brain (Denckla,1983; Voller, 1986). Children with these conditions are also taken as examples to illustrate that "they are greatly disturbed in their expression and communication and some basic interpersonal skills". It is not clear whether these two concepts describe two completely different diseases, or whether they are more likely to provide different kinds of observation and analysis methods. However, these two diseases overlap, and some individuals have at least some common symptoms.

autism

AS has many similarities with autism, especially high-functioning autism. Some researchers cannot explain the results of other researchers; Clinicians make the diagnosis of AS arbitrarily based on their own understanding or misunderstanding of AS. Parents and schools are at a loss for the diagnosis name of this detour; What is even more worrying is that no one knows how to treat it, and there is almost no publicly released information about the education and treatment of parents and clinicians. It was not until as was formally defined in DSM-IV(APA, 1994) that this chaotic situation was improved to some extent. This definition is based on a large-scale international experiment involving 1000 children and adolescents with autism or related disorders (Volkmar et al.). This experiment reveals some evidence that AS is a diagnostic category independent of autism, and it belongs to a pervasive developmental disorder like autism. More importantly, it establishes a unified definition of AS, which should be used as a reference for diagnosis. However, the problem is far from being solved. Apart from some new research progress, our understanding of AS is still very limited. For example, we don't have exact figures to show how common it is and the prevalence rate of men and women; Also, this disease is related to heredity, which increases the possibility of similar situations among family members, and so on.

Edit this special case

It has been reported in the media that a super-intelligent 18-year-old New Zealand teenager used viruses to invade10.3 million computers in the United States, the Netherlands and New Zealand, steal credit card numbers, manipulate stock trading, and even destroy the company's computer system, resulting in a loss of at least $25 million. He fought bravely with the FBI and the New Zealand police, but was finally captured by the police. According to scientists' analysis, this "genius" teenager suffers from Asperger's syndrome and has an extraordinary IQ. In Sanshui, Foshan, a 7-year-old boy suffers from similar Asperger's syndrome, and his IQ is superior: when he can open his mouth, he already knows many Chinese characters; After taking a look at the puzzles, he can completely remember the original position of each puzzle and put it back in its original place completely and correctly; Although he is only seven years old at present, he has learned many college English words. Even standing a few meters away, he can remember other people's gestures to change computer passwords and crack them, just like an agent. Interview "child prodigy" in rehabilitation center. The reporter has never stopped. He met Xiao Hao, a 7-year-old prodigy, at Foshan New Hope Rehabilitation Center. Xiao Hao's mother came from Sanshui to take care of him because of the need of treatment. When the reporter saw them, Xiao Hao was receiving acupuncture treatment of traditional Chinese medicine. Although his head was covered with needles, he was still full of energy and kept running around in the consulting room and corridor. Xiao Hao is no different from other children of the same age in appearance. His mother told reporters that loving sports is a major feature of Xiaohao at present, and it is also their biggest concern. "His behavior control is very poor, running around. In the street, we really dare not let go, for fear that he will be hit by a car. " When Xiao Hao was receiving treatment, he talked to himself, chanting English words for a while, imitating characters in different cartoons for a while, such as jubilation, Big Wolf and Altman, and combining these characters in one scene. "He has been full of energy since he was a child, living in his own world and not wanting to be idle for a moment!" Mom said. Surprise: at the age of two and a half, Xiaohao's mother, who was found to have extraordinary intelligence, said that he and her husband are both from Meizhou and have been in Sanshui, Foshan for 10 years. On April 25, 2002, Xiao Hao was born, which brought infinite joy to his family. "From pregnancy to birth, everything is normal. It was not until Xiao Hao was two and a half years old that he discovered that he was different from other children! " Not long after Xiao Hao could speak, he knew many words in books and on TV. As parents, they are very happy to see their children's extraordinary intelligence. Neighbors who live nearby also know that there is a "child prodigy" in his family. After discovering Xiao Hao's amazing memory, his parents bought him many English CDs. "When the TV is on, he will follow it. Soon he will remember English words, and once he remembers them, he will never forget them again! " However, Xiao Hao is not interested in mathematics at all, and he doesn't even know how to calculate the simple addition and subtraction within 10. Confusion: Three kindergartens were returned by teachers. The reporter learned that with the growth of Xiao Hao's age, his parents sent him to kindergarten, but they were all returned by the teacher, and the longest stay in kindergarten was only one day. One morning in September 2004, parents sent Xiao Hao to kindergarten. "It was delivered at 9 am, at noon 1 1, and the kindergarten teacher called and said,' I can't stand it'. Let's take it back!" In September of the following year, Xiaohao entered the kindergarten again and was returned. After another half year, the couple sent Xiao Hao to kindergarten for the third time. After a day, Xiao Hao came back again. At this point, they realized that Xiao Hao might have some defects. Especially with the approaching school age, Xiao Hao's education has become the most confusing thing for his parents. "Send him to school, afraid of affecting other children in class. But he has the right to receive education. What should he do? " How amazing a prodigy is: he never forgets to restore the puzzle. Xiao Hao has a super memory. When he was 4 years old, his father bought him a jigsaw puzzle consisting of 100 pieces. Xiao Hao looked at the original picture and fiddled with it. After messing up the puzzle again, he was able to put it back in its original position accurately, without any logical order. At the New Hope Rehabilitation Center, the reporter witnessed Xiao Hao's memory ability with his own eyes. While speaking English, he picked up a small puzzle at random and gently put it on the puzzle. In a few minutes, he put 65,438+000 puzzles back in their original places completely without any changes. At present, his parents bought him ten puzzles, and Xiao Hao can put them back without rules. To the surprise of Xiao Hao's father, Mr. Gan, his son Xiao Hao has a super memory ability. In order to prevent his son from indulging in computer games, Mr. Gan secretly changed the computer password. Unexpectedly, Xiao Hao, who stood a few meters away, remembered his gesture. After he left, he quietly ran to the computer keyboard, tried several times, and easily cracked the password, just like a special agent. Status quo: A prodigy became an English "madman" because a relative opened a kindergarten in Shenzhen, and Mr. Gan sent Xiaohao there. In the kindergarten in Shenzhen, it is the time when Xiaohao likes English crazily. He went from "good morning!" in the morning. From the beginning to sleep at night, he always speaks English, because he always speaks English, so that he makes jokes. Once, a child came home and said to his mother, "Mom, there is a foreign child in our kindergarten!" " ""He likes English, but most of the time, the superposition of two words can't express what he wants to express. He is right! "Teacher Gan said that Xiao Hao's understanding and logical thinking ability are relatively backward, and what he remembers is completely' mechanical', and he has not digested it." Fortunately, there is a foreign teacher in the kindergarten in Shenzhen. He is very helpful to Xiao Hao's English. He helped Xiaohao correct many wrong pronunciations and usages. "Teacher Gan said that Xiao Hao has been in kindergarten in Shenzhen for more than a year, and he can have a daily conversation with foreign teachers alone. Because of Xiaohao's English specialty, his older brothers and sisters met with difficulties in English and asked him for help. " He can recite almost a whole English book, not only speaking but also writing, that is, when learning English, he can be very devoted and calm down! "

Edit this paragraph. How to identify Asperger's syndrome?

1. Children with schizophrenia personality disorder. Some similar diagnostic concepts, which originated from adult psychiatry, neuropsychology, neurology and other interdisciplinary subjects, have the same performance to some extent. For example, Wolff and his colleagues describe a group of people with abnormal behavior patterns, which are characterized by social isolation, rigid thinking habits and abnormal communication methods. This disease is named childhood-like schizophrenia personality disorder. Unfortunately, there is no further progress in the study of this subject, so it is difficult to determine how many of the cases described here showed symptoms similar to autism in their early years. More generally speaking, it is impossible to fully understand the new direction of research progress of this disorder by understanding AS as a fixed personality characteristic, but these research progress plays an important role in differential diagnosis. 2. Non-language learning disabilities. In neuropsychology, a lot of research focuses on the non-verbal learning disorder (NLD) proposed by Locke (1989). The main contribution of this study is to describe the significance of children's social emotional development from the perspective of neuropsychology by studying the soundness and defects of neuropsychology that have a negative impact on people's socialization ability and communication style. The neuropsychological characteristics of NLD patients include: tactile sensation, neuromuscular coordination, visual spatial structure defect, non-verbal problem-solving ability defect, and difficulty in distinguishing and understanding disharmony and humor. NLD patients also show good mechanical language ability and language memory. It is difficult to adapt to the new complex environment; Excessive dependence on mechanical behavior to cope with the new environment; Compared with skilled single-word reading ability, mechanical computing ability is relatively poor; The use and rhythm of language expression are poor; There are obvious defects in social cognition, social judgment and social skills. The understanding of some subtle and obvious nonverbal communication has obvious defects, and it is often discriminated and rejected by others. The results show that NLD patients have obvious social withdrawal tendency, and the risk of developing serious emotional disorder is high. 3. Right brain syndrome. Many clinical features of NLD are described as developmental learning difficulties in the right hemisphere of the brain (Denckla,1983; Voller, 1986). Children with these conditions are also taken as examples to illustrate that "they are greatly disturbed in their expression and communication and some basic interpersonal skills". It is not clear whether these two concepts describe two completely different diseases, or whether they are more likely to provide different kinds of observation and analysis methods. However, these two diseases overlap, and some individuals have at least some common symptoms. 4. autism. AS has many similarities with autism, especially high-functioning autism. Some researchers cannot explain the results of other researchers; Clinicians make the diagnosis of AS arbitrarily based on their own understanding or misunderstanding of AS. Parents and schools are at a loss for the diagnosis name of this detour; What is even more worrying is that no one knows how to treat it, and there is almost no publicly released information about the education and treatment of parents and clinicians. It was not until as was formally defined in DSM-IV(APA, 1994) that this chaotic situation was improved to some extent. This definition is based on a large-scale international experiment involving 1000 children and adolescents with autism or related disorders (Volkmar et al.). This experiment reveals some evidence that AS is a diagnostic category independent of autism, and it belongs to a pervasive developmental disorder like autism. More importantly, it establishes a unified definition of AS, which should be used as a reference for diagnosis. However, the problem is far from being solved. Apart from some new research progress, our understanding of AS is still very limited. For example, we don't have exact figures to show how common it is and the prevalence rate of men and women; Also, this disease is related to heredity, which increases the possibility of similar situations among family members, and so on.