What is ankylosing spondylitis, the disease that singer Louane suffers from?

The singer, who represented France at the last Eurovision Song Contest , revealed that she suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, a degenerative autoimmune disease of the joints.

"It's simple, we talk, I'm in pain, but I'm used to it," she confided to the Alice Underground podcast, specifying that she has attacks of pain in her spine and pelvis.

The French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) describes spondyloarthritis as a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease. While it primarily affects the lumbar region and pelvis, it can also affect other joints in the body or manifest as psoriasis.

Chronic inflammation, ankylosing spondylitis can also sometimes "progress towards stiffening of the affected areas" , explains the Health Insurance on its website.

The disease generally appears between the ages of 20 and 30, but depending on the case, it can occur earlier or later.

Men and women are equally affected, but patients often have a "particular genetic background" in common.