MUSC News

If you’ve spent any time in the hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) community, you’ve likely noticed a pattern.

The conversation inevitably begins with joints – the growing pains, roaming kneecaps, seemingly countless orthopedic adventures that many patients know all too well. But it rarely ends there.

One patient mentions dizziness and fainting. Another struggles with migraines. Someone else talks about chronic digestive problems and urinary issues. Yet another describes mysterious allergic-like reactions that come out of nowhere. Crushing fatigue. Tachycardia. Endometriosis. ADHD. The list can feel endless.

For most people living with hEDS, the condition does not travel alone.

While joint instability and overwhelming pain are hallmarks of the connective tissue disorder, increasingly, researchers and clinicians are recognizing that hEDS is typically accompanied by a collection of related conditions and symptoms referred to as comorbidities. While not every person with hEDS experiences all of them, these conditions appear often enough that they have become a major focus of research and clinical care.

Ask Chip Norris, Ph.D., a question about hEDS, and the conversation almost immediately moves beyond connective tissue.