Youngsters have disk degeneration: shown for first time

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Dec 10, 2003

Youngsters have disk degeneration: shown for first time

Chicago, IL - ish researchers have shown for the first time that

children as young as 10 have evidence of disk degeneration in their spines.

" We found degenerative changes in the spine much earlier than we ever would

have suspected, " lead author Dr Francis W (Woodend Hospital, Aberdeen,

Scotland) told the Radiological Society of North America meeting last week

[1].

The observation was made coincidentally when and colleagues were

conducting an MRI study on 154 children, in which they found a relationship

between spinal stenosis, smoking in the mother, and small-for-dates babies

[2]. The 14 children in whom they found disk degeneration did not have

stenosis, however, nor did they have any history of injury, poor nutrition,

or other unknown disease, told rheumawire.

" Hitherto, the earliest anyone has ever shown disk degeneration has been in

adolescents in Finland, and it was thought that hormonal changes due to

puberty may play a role in the development of this. But now we know these

changes appear to start earlier. " says he has " no idea why that should

be. It could be genetic, but that's only supposition. "

The eternal argument: what causes disk degeneration?

In some of the news reports of his work that appeared in the US last week,

other doctors said they thought injury was more likely the culprit. But

says, " I doubt that. None of these children had ever reported any back

pain. Of the 154 children in the original study, 4 had had accidents or

traumas, but these were not the children in whom we found disk degeneration.

It's the eternal argument: what is the cause of invertebral disk

degeneration? "

says he has not given any advice to the children or their parents. " We

told them it's just an interesting finding and nothing to get excited

about. " He is planning to conduct follow-up on these children, however. " We

are fortunate that we have a static population here, with good medical

records going back many years, " he noted.

Although they do not know the cause of the disk degeneration, says it

is only common sense that preventive back care should begin early in life.

" This study revises our thoughts on when we should begin preventive back

care. Proactive steps should begin early in life, even before puberty. " This

should include learning about correct posture and how to stretch the back,

as well as being physically active, he says.

said that in the US, he was " sucked into the argument about

backpacks. " Although there is no evidence that heavy backpacks cause this

problem, he told rheumawire, " it seems sensible to limit their weight if

possible, " He says there are " very good American guidelines stating that

backpacks should not weigh any more than 10% to 15% of a child's body

weight. An alternative is for children to use backpacks with wheels that

they can pull around. "

Nainggolan