Archive for the ‘osteoporosis’ Category

Causes of Charcot Joints In Children

Friday, October 10th, 2008

* Congenital insensitivity to pain
* Peripheral nerve injuries
* Diabetic neuropathy
* Chronic diseases of the spinal cord that lead to sensory disturbances of the limbs.

In myelomeningocele, absence of pain sensation is associated with flaccid paralysis and marked limitation of physical activity; thus, owing to associated severe osteoporosis, the bone and joint changes present a different picture.

The joints involved vary with the different etiologic conditions.

In congenital insensitivity to pain and diabetic neuropathy, the destructive changes occur primarily in the tarsal and metatarsal joints, less commonly in the ankle, and rarely in the knee.

In syringomyelia, the joints involved are those of the shoulder and elbow. In tabes dorsalis, the knee, hip, ankle, and thoracolumbar spine are frequent sites of the disease.

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Fractures Common After Osteoporosis Therapy Fails

Sunday, October 5th, 2008

Women who fail to respond to, or stop taking, their medication to fight the bone-thinning condition osteoporosis are at high risk of suffering a bone fracture, a new study suggests.

British researchers found that among nearly 2,000 older women with an “inadequate response” to osteoporosis medication, 9 percent suffered a fracture over the next year.

Those who’d had a fracture in the past were at particular risk, according to findings published in the journal Osteoporosis International.

The researchers considered two groups of women as having an inadequate response to drug therapy: those who, before the study period, had suffered a bone break despite being on osteoporosis medication for at least one year; and those who had stopped taking their medication because of side effects or difficulty sticking with the regimen.

While some women in each group suffered a bone break over the next year, the risk was nearly twice as high among women with a past fracture.

Suffering a new fracture took a toll on the women’s quality of life, with many reporting pain, discomfort and problems with their normal daily activities.

In general, health-related quality of life among all women who suffered a fracture was far lower than the norm for women their age, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Cyrus Cooper of Southampton General Hospital in the UK.

Women who don’t benefit from osteoporosis treatment, or who stop taking the medication, need to be aware of their fracture risk and get further evaluation and treatment, Cooper told Reuters Health.

Past studies have found that up to half of women on osteoporosis medication stop taking the drugs within one year, often because of side effects.

Side effects depend on the type of medication. With the group of drugs known as bisphosphonates the more common side effects include stomach upset, heartburn, and joint, muscle or abdominal pain.

The drug raloxifene, can cause hot flashes and raise the risk of blood clots in the legs. Enhancing better compliance is key to the effectiveness of preventive strategies against fractures.

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Vertebroplasty Provides Significant Pain Relief In Osteoporotic Fractures

Saturday, October 4th, 2008

In osteoporosis patients with spinal fractures, vertebroplasty provides significant pain relief and helps decrease disability, according to a new study.

Vertebroplasty is a procedure that involves injection of medical-grade bone cement into a fractured vertebra to shore up the fracture and provide pain relief. It’s used to treat painful vertebral compression fractures that don’t respond to conventional medical therapy with analgesics or narcotics.

The study followed 884 patients for five years who were assessed before and after vertebroplasty. Their average pre-treatment pain score on an 11-point scale decreased from 7.9 (+/- 1.5) before treatment to an average of 1.3 (+/- 1.8) after treatment.

The patients’ ability to manage everyday tasks such as washing and dressing was measured using the Oswestry Disability Questionnaire. The patients’ scores went from an average of 69.3 percent (+/-13.5) a month before treatment to 18.8 percent (+/- 6.9) a month after treatment.

“These data provide good news for physicians and osteoporosis patients. Many osteoporosis patients with compression fractures are in terrible pain and have a greatly diminished ability to perform basic daily activities, such as dressing themselves,” Dr. Giovanni C. Anselmetti, an interventional radiologist at the Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment in Turin, Italy, said in a prepared statement.

The study also found that vertebroplasty didn’t increase the risk of fracture in nearby vertebra.

“Vertebroplasty is already known to be a safe and effective treatment for osteoporotic vertebral fractures. Osteoporosis patients remain susceptible to new fractures, which often occur in the contiguous vertebra to an existing fracture. Our large-scale study shows that vertebroplasty does not increase the risk of fracture in the level contiguous to previously treated vertebra and that these new fractures occur at the same rate as they would in osteoporosis patients who did not have vertebroplasty,” Anselmetti said.

The study was to be presented Tuesday at the annual scientific meeting of the Society of International Radiology.

Osteoporosis affects about 10 million Americans and causes about 1.5 million vertebral fractures each year, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Multiple vertebral fractures can cause chronic pain, disability, loss of independence, stooped posture, and compression of the lungs and stomach.

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Back Pain Causes

Saturday, July 12th, 2008

Your back is an intricate structure composed of bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons and disks — the cartilage-like pads that act as cushions between the segments of your spine. Back pain can arise from problems with any of these component parts. In some people, no specific cause for their back pain can be found.

Back Pain Strains

Back pain most often occurs from strained muscles and ligaments, from improper or heavy lifting, or after a sudden awkward movement. Sometimes a muscle spasm can cause back pain.

Back Pain Structural problems

In some cases, back pain may be caused by structural problems, such as:

* Bulging or ruptured disks. Disks act as cushions between the vertebrae in your spine. Sometimes, the soft material inside a disk may bulge out of place or rupture and press on a nerve. But many people who have bulging or herniated disks experience no pain from the condition.
* Sciatica. If a bulging or herniated disk presses on the main nerve that travels down your leg, it can cause sciatica — sharp, shooting pain through the buttock and back of the leg.
* Arthritis. The joints most commonly affected by osteoarthritis are the hips, hands, knees and lower back. In some cases arthritis in the spine can lead to a narrowing of the space around the spinal cord, a condition called spinal stenosis.
* Skeletal irregularities. Back pain can occur if your spine curves in an abnormal way. If the natural curves in your spine become exaggerated, your upper back may look abnormally rounded or your lower back may arch excessively. Scoliosis, a condition in which your spine curves to the side, also may lead to back pain.
* Osteoporosis. Compression fractures of your spine’s vertebrae can occur if your bones become porous and brittle.

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