http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay)—A new patient decision instrument meets the criteria of acceptability, reliability, and validity, and improves the quality of patient decision-making for treatment of a herniated disc, according to a study published in the Aug. 15 issue of Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-decision-aid-treatment-herniated-disc.html Other Thu, 23 Aug 2012 15:30:07 EST news264954084 (HealthDay) -- Workers on medical leave because of lower back pain are more likely to return to work if they receive reassurance and medical advice on how to stay active, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-workers-pain-job-sooner.html Health Thu, 09 Aug 2012 15:29:28 EST news263744960 In the United States and Europe, osteoporosis is considered primarily a "woman's disease" and men are rarely evaluated for the condition, which causes bones to become weak and brittle, and increases the risk of wrist, hip and spine fractures. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-benefits-sex-gender-analysis.html Medical research Fri, 27 Jul 2012 10:01:04 EST news262602056 (HealthDay) -- Preoperative cyanoacrylate sealant (InteguSeal) application does not reduce the risk of surgical site infection for patients undergoing scoliosis surgery, according to a study published online July 18 in Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-integuseal-scoliosis-surgery-infections.html Surgery Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:00:01 EST news262543042 (HealthDay) -- For patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), subjective measures of pain and disability have limited ability to predict real-life ambulatory performance, according to a study published in the July 1 issue of Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-pain-disability-dont-function-spinal.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:37:15 EST news261679012 Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have isolated a new type of energy-burning fat cell in adult humans which they say may have therapeutic potential for treating obesity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-newly-isolated-beige-fat-cells.html Medical research Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:00:04 EST news261307335 (HealthDay) -- In patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain (LBP), impaired fasting glucose tolerance, greater pain-related disability, higher body mass index, and lower quality of life (QoL) at baseline are all associated with an increased pain-related disability at one year, according to a study published online June 20 in Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-prolonged-disability-predictors-pain.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 28 Jun 2012 20:10:01 EST news260125557 (Medical Xpress) -- New research has shed light on the high risk of fractures, falls, and osteoporosis among epilepsy patients using antiepileptic drugs with most patients unaware of the risks associated with taking the drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-epilepsy-drugs-fractures-falls.html Neuroscience Thu, 28 Jun 2012 05:51:37 EST news260081477 (HealthDay) -- Recovery of the lumbar intervertebral discs following a 60-day period of bed rest is a lengthy process, with recovery incomplete at two years, according to a study published in the June 15 issue of Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-incomplete-recovery-lumbar-discs-years.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 22 Jun 2012 14:06:53 EST news259592784 In between the vertebrae of the human spine are 23 Oreo-sized, cartilage-filled discs that hold the vertebrae together and allow for spine movement. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-byu-disc-chronic-pain.html Surgery Tue, 12 Jun 2012 17:09:35 EST news258739481 (HealthDay) -- Morbid obesity increases the risk of multiple complications in spinal fusion surgery, particularly in patients undergoing anterior cervical or posterior lumbar procedures, according to research published in the May 15 issue of Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-morbid-obesity-ups-complication-spinal.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 05 Jun 2012 04:50:01 EST news258086475 A new Audit report on fragility fractures, issued today by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), predicts that Brazil will experience an explosion in the number of fragility fractures due to osteoporosis in the coming decades. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-brazil-hip-fractures-percent.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 24 May 2012 11:53:06 EST news257079038 Orthopedic spine surgery may be more effective than non-surgical treatment for low back disorders. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-surgery-conditions.html Surgery Fri, 18 May 2012 08:50:01 EST news256548756 (HealthDay) -- A variety of pre-, intra-, and postoperative factors contribute to increased length of stay (LOS) for patients who undergo level 1 minimally invasive (MIS) transforaminal interbody fusions (TLIF) spine surgery, according to a study published online May 8 in Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-predictors-length-hospital-spine-surgery.html Surgery Thu, 17 May 2012 15:00:01 EST news256481639 Surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have restored some hand function in a quadriplegic patient with a spinal cord injury at the C7 vertebra, the lowest bone in the neck. Instead of operating on the spine itself, the surgeons rerouted working nerves in the upper arms. These nerves still "talk" to the brain because they attach to the spine above the injury. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-surgeons-function-quadriplegic-patient.html Surgery Tue, 15 May 2012 10:46:23 EST news256297571 (Medical Xpress) -- Continuing a popular but controversial treatment for osteoporosis could reduce spine fracture risk for a particular group of patients, but others could see little to no change if they discontinue it. Based on available evidence, a UCSF researcher reevaluated his 2006 finding from a randomized 10-year study of alendronate, a type of bisphosphonate – a class of drugs that prevent loss of bone mass. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-long-term-osteoporosis-medication-bone-fracture.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 10 May 2012 06:10:30 EST news255849015 Researchers at UCLA have been searching for the cause of a rare disease that virtually no one has ever heard: PCH1, or pontocerebellar hypoplasia type 1, which attacks the brain and the spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-devastating-disease-insight-death-motor.html Genetics Mon, 30 Apr 2012 03:10:39 EST news254974213 (HealthDay) -- Few patients with acute low back pain (LBP), with or without sciatica, declare sick leave; however, approximately half have one or more recurrences and a considerable proportion experience chronic pain six months or longer after the initial episode, according to a study published in the April 15 issue of Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-patients-acute-pain-poor-prognosis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:00:02 EST news254490854 (HealthDay) -- Active conservative symptom-guided therapy for severe sciatica can safely reduce pain and improve neurological function at a rate that matches or surpasses outcomes from common higher-cost surgical interventions, according to a Danish study published in the April 1 issue of Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-relieves-sciatica-pain.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:40:01 EST news253195918 (Medical Xpress) -- The relative risk of blood loss during corrective spine surgery in children appears linked to the underlying condition causing the spinal deformity, according to a new study from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-blood-loss-childhood-surgery-varies.html Surgery Mon, 09 Apr 2012 07:10:00 EST news253174166 One of the world's leading researchers into spinal cord injuries says China could hold the key to a cure that he has been searching for since he met late actor Christopher Reeve in the 1990s. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-doctor-china-spinal-injury.html Medical research Wed, 07 Mar 2012 04:50:01 EST news250317274 Lower back pain due to Modic changes can be hard to treat and the currently recommended therapy of exercise and staying active often does not help alleviate the pain. Results of a trial, published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine, comparing exercise therapy, and staying active, to daily rest and lumbar support, showed that both treatments resulted in the same small level of improvement in pain, disability, and general health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-rest-equally-effective-pain.html Health Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:00:02 EST news249670802 (HealthDay) -- Combining a disability evaluation with proactive counseling for workers with low back pain (LBP) results in a higher return-to-work rate, which is statistically significant at one year, according to a study published online Feb. 16 in Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-pain-strategy-ups.html Health Tue, 28 Feb 2012 05:10:02 EST news249626915 (HealthDay) -- Treatment of patients with lower back pain (LBP) using a classification-based physical therapy approach shows no statistically significant superiority to treatment with usual physical therapy care, according to a study published online Feb. 13 in Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-classification-based-therapy-pain.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:40:01 EST news249069871 You've heard of the fat suit and the pregnancy suit; now meet AGNES - the old person suit. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-mit-wrinkle-video.html Health Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:22:28 EST news244804923 (Medical Xpress) -- A 99-year-old woman has returned to her daily routine after doctors repaired three separate compression fractures in her spine three times in a month. Specialists at the University of Rochester Medical Center repaired the brittle vertebra using bone glue while the patient was under sedation, which is easier for elderly patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-year-old-woman-regains-mobility-spinal.html Other Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:30:01 EST news243857939 Spine surgery patients who got a bone growth stimulating agent as part of a clinical trial were three to five times more likely to develop cancer two to three years after being implanted with the product, according to a new analysis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-cancer-bone-growth-product.html Cancer Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:20:01 EST news239637919 A new study indicates that many patients undergoing spine surgery have low levels of vitamin D, which may delay their recovery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-vitamin-d-common-spine-surgery.html Health Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:19:05 EST news239516307 In the last 20 years, due to diagnostic and surgical advances, more and more patients have become appropriate candidates for spine surgery, and the number of these procedures performed has risen significantly. While medical experts acknowledge the potential benefits of spine surgery, they also understand that complications can reduce the success in the short and long term. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-factors-complications-spine-surgery.html Other Wed, 21 Sep 2011 11:05:30 EST news235821464 It's not how old but how frail patients are that can predict how well they will fare after a melanoma diagnosis. In fact, young patients in poor health may have worse outcomes than older patients in good shape. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-patients-underlying-health-linked-worse.html Cancer Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:26:56 EST news233922395