Scoliosis Genetic and Blood Tests Pave the Way for Early Stage Scoliosis Intervention in the Future

Scoliosis Genetic and Blood Tests Pave the Way for Early Stage Scoliosis Intervention in the Future

The treatment of idiopathic scoliosis has maintained a consistent dogmatic stance of observation for mild curvature less than 25 degrees, bracing for moderate curvatures between 25 and 40 degrees, and highly invasive spinal fusion surgery for curvature over 40 degrees. With the advent of genetic and blood testing this dogmatic stance will be rapidly changing. Controversy amongst scoliosis specialists has been evident especially when dealing with early and moderate treatment zones. With the lack of any genetic profile or understanding of what makes a scoliosis progress to severe surgical levels we simply were unable to tell whether or not the conservative treatments like scoliosis bracing and scoliosis exercise altered the natural course of the disease or if the scoliosis would not have progressed regardless of early attempts to halt progression.
Genetic prognostic testing now available, that will help determine the progressive nature of a patient's scoliosis. An analysis of 53 DNA markers associated with scoliosis has allowed categorization of three specific groups of patients: low risk for progression, moderate risk, and those that will progress to greater than 45 degrees and most likely require fusion surgery. When this testing is used as standard practice it may in fact change the entire paradigm of scoliosis management. Those that will not require treatment considered very low risk will need to be monitored only periodically if at all depending on the patients choice to seek alternative therapies for possible reducing the lower grade curvature. Those that are in the moderate risk zone will still require periodic evaluation and may certainly benefit from conservative methods of treatment, such as scoliosis rehabilitation. Those in the high risk category for curve progression, may be candidates for less invasive non fusion based guided growth type surgeries known as vertebral stapling.
The advent of growth modulation techniques, mainly vertebral body stapling, will most likely become more commonly utilized versus the reactive fusion based surgery that currently dominates the scoliosis surgery market. This guided growth technology may be effective in controlling curve progression until skeletal maturity, at which time the vertebral staples could either be removed or remain based on what the surgeons recommend. This newer technique generally will not negatively impact spinal mobility but at the same time alter curve progression levels and in some cases prevent progression. Further tweaking of the genetic testing may eventually identify those patients who will benefit from physical therapy or spinal bracing, so that these types of scoliosis treatments can be begin at the earliest possible stage in scoliosis development to ultimately maximize their effectiveness. The eagerly awaited scoliosis blood test which measures level of osteopontin (OPN) will hopefully be used in conjunction with the patient's genetic risk analysis and can be used to determine how effective a conservative treatment approach may be for any given patient before they fail a therapeutic trial.
Scoliosis is a condition with both genetic and environmental components (Nature vs. Nurture). Any basic algebra student can tell you that an equation with 2 unknown variables can't be solved and this is why trying to figure out which patients needed which treatments was almost impossible to do with any amount of accuracy. Until now, the Scoliscore test can provide us with the necessary genetic part of the equation and we can now focus on elimination of the environmental aspects of the condition (since altering the genetic component is currently impossible).....this means we can actually start working towards a cure through early stage intervention and elimination of environmental factors.
The prognostic technology of scoliosis is rapidly out pacing the rate of scoliosis treatment advancement. An early stage scoliosis treatment program is being developed in hopes of altering the natural course of the condition and take advantage of the opportunity this prognostic technology can provide.

Lordosis Causes and Solutions

Lordosis Causes and Solutions

Almost everyone in the world has done a sit up sometime during their life. The exception are only those that have not started school or began to walk yet. Lordosis is actually a very common condition, and the severity is depended upon the person and their imbalance. Many people have lordosis without even realizing it; others are aware of the pain, but unaware of the condition.
Lordosis is an exaggerated lumbar curve in the spine. It is caused by overactive or tight hip flexors, weak hip extensors, and weak abdominals. Many people that sit down a lot during the day have lordosis and others that do a lot of sit ups have it. Notice a lot of people come out of the military with lower back pains? Most of the time it is caused by loads of sit ups that are required to maintain physical fitness.
Sit ups can cause lordosis by working the hip flexors more than the rectus abdominis. The ab muscles, which anatomically are known as the rectus abdominis, act to elevate the torso with help from three muscles that flex the hip - iliopsas, which is actually three muscles - the psoas major, psoas minor, and iliacus. And the rectus femoris, which is the only quad muscle that runs anterior of the femoroacetabular joint.
When the hip flexes, a person with weak abs will only get minimum work from their ab muscles directly. This causes the hip flexors to do a lot of the work. The hip flexors will continue working long before the ab muscles have fatigued, and the the result is a forward pelvis - an anterior pelvic tilt we call "lordosis". Other exercises that target the ab muscles are sometimes acknowledged to target the hip flexors. One of which, is the hanging weighted leg raise. The leg raise flexes the hip, but is better than sit ups because it involves more of the spinal erectors that have to stabilize the lower back.
The anterior pelvic tilt, called "lordosis" can be fixed in many ways. The solution is first to stretch the overactive muscles - in this case the hip flexors and strengthen the abs and hip extensors. How can you strengthen the abs without the hip flexors too? Isometric ab work like planks. How can you strengthen the hip extensors? Stiff-leg deadlifts and low bar squats can do the job, so can glute hamstring raises. If you insist on concentrically working your abs with sit ups or leg raises, then squeeze the glutes at the bottom to deactivate the hip flexors.

Skin Yeast Infection

Skin Yeast Infection

Skin yeast infection is probably not one that most people have heard of. When you hear the word "yeast infection", your thoughts probably turn to the vagina (for women) or the penis (for men), but did you know that a candida infection can also be present on the skin of other areas of the body? This article will review some common places on the human body skin where a yeast fungal infection can be found.yeast
Skin yeast infection of the vagina
Let's start with one the most common candida fungal infections. Women can get excess amounts of in and around the vaginal cavity. The result is frequent burning and itching in the female genital area. Severe cases of a vaginal yeast outbreak include sores and lesions.
Skin yeast infection of the penis
It is not uncommon for a man to contract penile yeast infections when having sexual intercourse with a partner that has an active candida infection in her vagina. One challenge, however is proper diagnosis as it is often difficult for a non-medical person to know the difference between a sexually transmitted disease and the existence of the candida fungus on the penis. Severe cases of a penile yeast infection can result in blisters at the tip of the head of the penis - causing severe pain during urination and sexual activity. Also, yeast blisters are not always limited to the penile shaft - sometimes the infection can spread through the inner thighs of a man, even back toward the anus.
Skin yeast infection in the folds of the skin
Irritation can form under the folds of the skin. This creates a condition called intertrigo and can present itself in moist, warm areas of the body such as the groin, breasts, underarms as well as under the skin folds of the belly of an obese person. If there are any cuts or lesions in these precarious locations, then the yeast organisms can penetrate through the skin into the bloodstream. Proper hygiene is extremely important for someone who has a problem with frequent candida infections of the skin folds. This includes making sure that you take frequent showers (and clean all folds of the skin with soap and water). In addition, when in situations where excessive sweating can take place, make sure that all the skin folds are wiped down with a dry towel as quickly as possible so that the yeast does not breed and multiply at a faster pace.

Chicken Pox- Symptoms

Chicken Pox- Symptoms

Chicken pox is a disease that affects mainly children. It is contagious and can be spread even through air. The main way of chicken pox transmission is by direct contact with the person infected by chicken pox. Like many other disease, chicken pox also has symptoms. These signs will appear about three weeks after infection with the virus that causes chicken pox. The reason for this is because the chicken pox virus has an incubation period. The proper medical term fro chicken pox is actually varicella, because the name of the virus that causes this children' s disease is called varicella zoster.
As I have said earlier, chicken pox has few symptoms. Some of them may not even be noticeable. The first signs of chicken pox set off very sudden and there are cases when the chicken pox patient will actually have no symptoms at all. A mild fever, some weakness and tiredness are the first chicken pox symptoms that you will feel, after the incubation period is over. Soon after this signs of chicken pox, a rash will start to appear on your skin. At first only some areas of your body will be affected by these tiny, red spots. The main target of chicken pox rash are at first the chest and back. Then, just in a couple of hours it will spread all over your body. Even places like the mouth and scalp will eventually be affected by chicken pox.
The next step that will happen in your child' s chicken pox case is that the rash will start to develop into blisters that are filled with fluid. Eventually, these chicken pox blisters will dry, form scabs and fall off. Children are more fortunate than adults when it come to chicken pox symptoms, as well as chicken pox complications caused by infection. If there is the case of infection in a child that suffers from chicken pox, rest assure that this will be a very mild case, with no side- effect. On the other hand, if an adult suffers from chicken pox, mainly because he/ she did not have this disease when being a child, things can get more complicated.
So, as you can see, chicken pox has few symptoms at the beginning of the disease. When the rash appears, and then the blisters, then things get more clear. However, you will not know if your child has been infected with chicken pox for more than two weeks, which is the incubation period of the chicken pox virus.