BACKGROUND Degenerative joint disease (DJD) in the lumbar spine is a common condition that is associated with chronic low back pain. Excessive loading of lumbar joints is a risk factor for DJD. Changes in lumbar lordosis significantly redistribute the forces of weight-bearing on the facet joints and the intervertebral discs. However, the relationship between lumbar lordosis and DJD has not been...

A previously healthy 46-year-old male presented to the emergency department with the sole complaint of lower back pain after being struck by a car while walking. Physical examination revealed the patient to be hemodynamicaly stable and in moderate distress secondary to back pain. Maintaining spinal precautions, the patient was log-rolled and found to have midline lumbar spine tenderness with a ...

BACKGROUND Sacroiliac (SI) joint pain is a challenging condition to manage as it can mimic discogenic or radicular low back pain, and present as low back, hip, groin and/or buttock pain. Patients may present with a combination of lumbar spine and SI joint symptoms, further complicating the diagnosis and treatment algorithm [1-3]. SI joint pain after lumbar spinal fusion has been reported in the...

The aim of this study was to test bone mineral density (BMD), trabecular bone score (TBS), and their combination, for detection of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with vertebral fractures (VFs). One hundred eighty-five women aged 56.0 ± 13.5 yr, with RA since 15.5 ± 9.9 yr were studied. Lumbar spine, total hip, and femoral neck BMD were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). TBS...

Introduction: Medical uses of radiation have grown very rapidly over in the past two decades, medical uses represent the largest source of exposure to people, The most important methods in medical diagnosis are the useses of diagnostic radiology exams. Although the use of these methods is very beneficial for the treatment of patients, but ionizing radiation produces ion pairs, ...

A series of experiments showing how posture affects the lumbar spine is reviewed. Postures which flatten (that is, flex) the lumbar spine are compared with those that preserve the lumbar lordosis. Our review shows that flexed postures have several advantages: flexion improves the transport of metabolites in the intervertebral discs, reduces the stresses on the apophyseal joints and on the poste...

BACKGROUND Pregnancy and lactation in adolescents with habitually low calcium intake may adversely affect maternal bone mass. OBJECTIVE We investigated the effect of calcium plus vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy on bone mass during lactation in Brazilian adolescent mothers with low-calcium diets (∼600 mg/d). DESIGN Pregnant adolescents (14-19 y) randomly received daily calcium (60...

Background & Aims: The purpose of the present research was to compare the bone mineral density (BMD) of lumbar spine between athletic and non-athletic premenopausal women. Methods: Fifteen female athletes (runner) with the mean age of 33.80 ± 4.81 years, mean height of 164.13 ± 5.31 cm, mean weight of 57.33 ± 4.22 kg, and mean body mass index (BMI) of 21.41 ± 2.21 kg/m2 and 15 female non-athlet...