Monthly Archives: May 2012
Vitamin D is a very important vitamin. The creation of this vitamin and the uses for it are typically ignored by most people. It is thought, by most, that vitamin D is in the food we eat. To an extent, this is correct. However, the format in which the vitamin D we ingest is in, is not something our body can use, it must change it. The vitamin D that we eat and drink in milk is actually considered vitamin D2. This vitamin is absolutely useless to the body until it modifies it into vitamin D3. In order to do this, the body must be exposed to sunlight. This helps create the extra molecules needed to create the useful D3. The first place this unusable chemical goes, is to the liver. At the liver, the vitamin D2 is given an extra oxygen molecules and extra hydrogen molecules. After this, the body sends the still unusable vitamin D to the kidneys. There, it picks up the other hydrogen and oxygen molecules it needs to become vitamin D3, what our body needs.
Vitamin D is not only used to strengthen bones alone, it is necessary for your body to absorb calcium, another vitamin that helps to strengthen your bones. If you do not get enough sun light, or enough vitamin D and calcium, you are increasing your chances of developing weak bones over time.
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When a trauma or accident occurs and the spinal cord is injured there can be a noticeable loss of function in the back area wherein mobility is severely reduced. Injuries to the spine commonly occur from automobile accidents, a fall, a sport injury, or even an accidental gunshot to the back. There are also diseases that will cause spinal injury such as Spina Bifida or Polio. Even if the spinal cord is not cut at the time of the injury there can still be a loss of function in the back. Cell damage itself can be the cause for loss of function.
Being diagnosed with a spinal cord injury is a very complicated and complex issue. To begin repairing it, the spinal treatment given will depend upon the types of damage that were implicated at the time of the injury or accident and what happened after. Several different combinations of therapy and new technology can be used in helping to repair the spine and hopefully get it back into good working condition.
Because of all the funding in the past decade given to spinal cord research, there have been significant new tools and discoveries made that are helping to repair the spine. With over 10,000 people a year having spinal injuries, this is a good piece of news. It is a very time consuming and difficult task to discover new and successful ways to repair the spine and have better rehabilitation procedures due to the complexity of the spine and how detailed the injuries can be. Continue reading
The March 2, 2012 issue of the Science Daily reports that a study recently done in Southampton indicates that early bone growth in the womb and during the first six years of outside the womb predicts bone strength and health … Continue reading
For people with chronic pain in their back and neck, steroid injections have become a constant in their lives. Even though they seek other types of treatment, this is the treatment they typically revert back to. This is because it is trusted relief for their pain. Many times, anti-inflammatory drugs have come out that claim that they are going to work wonders for those with chronic pain and many times, people with chronic pain have been let down. Entanercept is no different.
The concept of injectable etanercept was that if the anti-inflammatory drug was injected at the sight of the pain, the nerve root, that the amount and the frequency of inflammation would diminish. Many patients and doctors, actually waited for this medication to come out with hopes that they would finally get rid of their chronic pain. Again, these patients were let down. Even spinal surgeons were surprised at how big of a short fall it had especially since there was such a hype about the medication and the wonders it would work. Continue reading
The Arizona Spine Center offers both operative and nonoperative techniques to correct spinal disorders. If surgical care is what you require to correct a spinal curvature, there is a minimally invasive surgery to effectively improve a spinal deformity with speedier recovery time.
Scoliosis Can Greatly Reduce the Quality of Your Life
Scoliosis is an abnormal curvature of the spine that may display itself as a C curve or as an S curve. The greater the severity of the curve, the more it can effect the patient’s mobility and can even cause moderate to severe back pain, and breathing difficulties. The tell-tale signs to look for to detect scoliosis include:
•One shoulder or hip is higher than the other
•The head is off center over the body
•One shoulder blade is more prominent than the other
•Clothes fit tighter on one side than the other
Testing for scoliosis normally occurs in grade school. If a child is detected to have scoliosis, an Arizona spinal surgeon doctor can use various techniques such as bracing, and spine strengthening exercises for instance, to correct the curvature as much as possible, before it can get worse. However, a person can develop scoliosis later on in life, due to a number of reasons, such as poor posture, foot deformities, and uneven hips. The exact cause for scoliosis varies for each person.
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Lower back sprain is a disorder that affects many. Here in the U.S. back sprain is high on the list for many who get this disorder at work by lifting something that is too heavy. Lower back sprain can be severe or chronic; however, with treatment, it can be cured or lessened.
There are many factors that can bring on low back sprain such as poor posture, being out of shape, being overweight, sitting too long in the same position or emotional stress. Other causes of low back sprain are: arthritis, pinched nerves, infections, carrying a heavy back pack, pushing, pulling or lifting something that is too heavy and fractures.
Symptoms of back sprain are pain in the buttocks and legs, pain and stiffness in the back and pain that gets worse when a person stretches, coughs, or when bending. When a person has these symptoms, it is important to seek help from a doctor. Continue reading
Traditional medicine has long been said to treat underlying symptoms of a disease process or illness. Alternative medicine has a great focus on preventative therapies. If a person becomes ill with any number of things alternative medicine will help to jump start that person’s immunity for quicker healing. Alternative therapy believes that if the body is fed the right nutrients every day then vital organs are going to be fed right for ultimatum functioning every day to help ward off these diseases and illnesses. Many cases warrant an examination by a surgeon, such as spinal problems, that no traditional or alternate therapy will help.
Traditional medicine will prescribe pain medication, for example if someone is having back pain. The problem is that while the pain is generally eliminated the problem still exists. The pain medication works, but when the medication wears off the patient back to square one again, needing more pain medication in order to function near normal. Spine pain is serious and must be first checked out by a spinal surgeon. Continue reading
