European researchers and clinicians are working hand in hand to unveil the mechanisms leading to back pain, likely the most widespread chronic pathology among humans. Until recently, it was assumed that disc degeneration was the main process behind back pain. The intervertebral discs are joints made of soft and very strain resistant material, placed between the vertebrae of the spine. New imaging techniques like MRI scans have recently proved the absence of direct causality between disc alteration and pain: some people have degenerated discs with little back pain, some have severe back pain with very little disc degeneration.
At the heart of the European "Genodisc" program is the idea of classifying the different groups of back pain patients, or phenotypes, to be able to identify the specific causes for each pathology. For the first time, medical doctors and fundamental scientists of nine European countries put together a huge database of 2500 patients. Each of these patients filled out a detailed questionnaire about the history and impact of back pain on their daily life. DNA samples and MRI scans complete the patient's files.
Prevention is another keyword for Genodisc teams. Physiotherapy and physical exercise have long been known as good prevention methods to avoid or reduce the emergence of back pain in adults. A prevention program in Hungarian schools showed that specific exercises could also prevent children prone to getting back pain from experiencing it. But mobility and physical activity can also be used as a cure. Behavioral therapy, tested in the UK, proved that some groups of patients got the same benefits from physical exercise that they would have from heavy and risky surgery.
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European researchers and clinicians are working hand in hand to unveil the mechanisms leading to back pain, likely the most widespread chronic pathology among humans. Until recently, it was assumed that disc degeneration was the main process behind back pain. The intervertebral discs are joints made of soft and very strain resistant material, placed between the vertebrae of the spine. New imaging techniques like MRI scans have recently proved the absence of direct causality between disc alteration and pain: some people have degenerated discs with little back pain, some have severe back pain with very little disc degeneration.
At the heart of the European "Genodisc" program is the idea of classifying the different groups of back pain patients, or phenotypes, to be able to identify the specific causes for each pathology. For the first time, medical doctors and fundamental scientists of nine European countries put together a huge database of 2500 patients. Each of these patients filled out a detailed questionnaire about the history and impact of back pain on their daily life. DNA samples and MRI scans complete the patient's files.
Prevention is another keyword for Genodisc teams. Physiotherapy and physical exercise have long been known as good prevention methods to avoid or reduce the emergence of back pain in adults. A prevention program in Hungarian schools showed that specific exercises could also prevent children prone to getting back pain from experiencing it. But mobility and physical activity can also be used as a cure. Behavioral therapy, tested in the UK, proved that some groups of patients got the same benefits from physical exercise that they would have from heavy and risky surgery.
This video is not supported by your browser at this time.
Explore further: Quality of life improves with minimally invasive surgery for low back pain
Medical Xpress on facebook
Related Stories
Quality of life improves with minimally invasive surgery for low back pain
Mar 04, 2014
Beaumont research findings published in the February online issue of Spine shows that patients who have a low back surgery called minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, end up better off in ...
Clinical trial shows stem cell injections reduce low pack pain (w/ Video)
Feb 27, 2014
A single injection of stem cells into degenerative discs reduced low back pain for at least 12 months according to results of a 100-patient, phase II, international clinical trial that included researchers ...
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May 09, 2014
A study from Curtin University has found a bi-directional relationship between adolescent cigarette use and spinal pain.
Back surgery offers long-term societal benefits, according to new study
Mar 12, 2014
Annually, more than 10 million people experience back pain in the United States. More than 200,000 of these patients undergo surgery to alleviate pain due to a herniated disc. Surgery to remove the disc has been found to ...
Pattern of disc degeneration impacts low back pain
Apr 12, 2012
(HealthDay) -- Contiguous, multilevel disc degeneration (CMDD) is associated with increased likelihood of low back pain (LBP) and pain severity compared with skipped level disc degeneration (SLDD), according ...
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1 hour ago
The MERS coronavirus has killed 10 people and infected 68 in the United Arab Emirates since March 2013, the health minister said in comments published by local media on Wednesday
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16 hours ago
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