Imagine Dragons Singer Raises Awareness for Condition He's Lived With for 10 Years
Already famous forhis vocals in the Grammy award-winning band Imagine Dragons, Dan Reynolds is ready to be known for something else, too: Ankylosing spondylitis.
Reynolds was diagnosed with AS, a chronic inflammatory condition, when he was just 20 years old, according to a news release from the Spondylitis Association of America. Now, almost a decade later, Reynolds and the SAA are joining forces to launch an interactive talk show about people living with AS.
The goal of the show, which will be called “This AS Life Live,” is to increase awareness of the condition, the release said. Reynolds will act as the show’s host, interviewing a different person living with AS in each episode about how the condition affects their daily life, covering topics from relationships to doctor’s appointments.
AS is a form of arthritis — think of it as the cousin torheumatoid arthritis— that impacts more than 1 million people in the U.S., with symptoms first appearing between the ages of 17 and 45 in most people. AS causes inflammation in the spine and pelvis, which leads to severe back pain, stiffness and problems with the structure of the spine. There is no cure for AS, but it can be managed.
雷诺兹,引起剧烈的疼痛,让它difficult for him to even sleep, let alone perform in a high-energy rock band.
"Because it doesn't exhibit any external signs or symptoms, AS truly is an invisible disease,” he said in the release. “It nearly took away many of my life's biggest joys, like holding my child and performing live on stage."
Now, Reynolds has learned to manage the condition and is excited to help educate people with AS as well as their care-givers through the new series, he said in the release.
Episode of the series will air on ThisASLife.com, an online community for people living with AS. The first episode, featuring professional chef Helgi Olafson, was released on Feb. 9, 2017, and can be viewed here.
