Behçets disease is a rare, chronic, lifelong disorder that involves inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body. Symptoms of Behçet’s disease include recurrent oral and genital ulcers, and eye inflammation. The disorder may also cause various types of skin lesions, arthritis, bowel inflammation, meningitis (inflammation of the membranes of the brain and spinal cord). Behcets disease generally begins when patients are in their 20s or 30s, although all age groups may be affected. Behçet’s is a multisystem disease; it may involve all organs and affect the central nervous system, causing memory loss and impaired speech, balance and movement. The effects of the disease may include blindness, stroke, swelling of the spinal cord, and intestinal complications.

Although Behçet’s disease is incurable at present, incurable does not mean untreatable. There are several ways in which the immune system can be suppressed to an appropriate level to reduce the extra inflammation, and this suppresses the symptoms.

Dr Wallace started his postdoctoral position at St Thomas’ hospital London in ocular immunology. One of the diseases that was of interest to the group was Behcet’s Disease. That initiated his interest in the condition, and it has been part of his laboratory’s work ever since. Behcet’s is an immunological enigma and therefore provides many interesting avenues for research. A particular interest is the genetic basis of the disease as the geographical spread suggests an aetiology that matches the name the Silk Road disease. This work on the immunogenetic basis of ocular disease is at the forefront of current studies and is being prepared as a major review which we believe will alter the current paradigms. Samples from his DNA bank collected from patients at Birmingham, London and the Middle East are currently being used in further studies by colleagues in Leeds, Rotterdam and Lisbon, and he is analysing samples from US patients with acute anterior Uveitis for PTPN22 620W prevalence in collaboration with the Casey Eye Institute, Portland Oregon.

The major problem with rare disease is the difficulty patients have in getting a proper diagnosis. This can take many years in some cases, during which the condition is not being treated appropriately. Greater education of the medical profession and the public about these diseases would help to remedy this situation