Thursday, March 17, 2011
Genetic link to back pain
The claim: Back pain runs in families.
The facts: Heavy lifting, overuse and middle age are some of the most familiar risk factors for lower back pain. But for many, predicting a lifetime of lumbar trouble could be as simple as consulting the family tree.
A growing number of studies are finding that chronic back pain has a strong genetic component.
In the past, researchers who looked at families with multiple back-pain patients had trouble ruling out the environmental factors that relatives often share, like similar lifestyles and careers, or habits like smoking and lack of exercise. Now, however, studies have shown a clear connection.
In one large analysis published in February in The Journal Of Bone And Joint Surgery, researchers at the University of Utah used records from a large health and genealogic database to study more than a million Utah residents. As they scoured the data, they focused on people with herniated or degenerating discs - diagnoses that commonly result in chronic pain.
The data showed that having a second-degree relative (aunt, uncle or grandparent) or third-degree relative (cousin) with the condition increased a person's risk, regardless of environmental factors. And having an immediate family member raised a person's risk more than four times.
Other studies have strengthened the hypothesis by identifying at least two versions of a gene that produces a collagen protein and appears closely linked to sciatica and disc herniation.
The bottom line: Development of lower back pain appears to have a genetic component.
The New York Times
Labels: back pain, genetic link
Friday, March 04, 2011
Eat more fiber and you just may live longer
A team led by Dr Yikyung Park, a staff scientist at the National Cancer Institute, studied almost 400,000 people and found a strong link between a high-fibre diet and a longer life.
In 1995 or 1996, participants aged 50 to 71 filled in a questionnaire on how often they ate 124 food items. Nine years later, 20,126 men and 11,330 women among them had died. National records were used to find out their cause of death.
The study found that those who ate a diet rich in whole grains, fruit and vegetables (adding up to 29g of fibre per day for men and 26g for women) were 22 per cent less likely to die after nine years than those who ate the least fibre (13g and 11g per day).
Those in the high-fibre group were also less likely to die of cardiovascular, infectious and respiratory diseases. Fewer men on a high-fibre diet died of cancer, but this link was not found in women.
Dr Park said the team found that fibre has anti-inflammatory properties and grains are also rich in beneficial vitamins, minerals and chemicals.
The researchers noted that people who ate more fibre were generally healthier, more educated and more physically active to begin with, but the study, which was published in the Archives Of Internal Medicine, adjusted for these differences.
In 2003, the Health Promotion Board developed dietary guidelines which advised adult Singaporeans to eat more whole grains such as rolled oats, brown rice and bread.
The New York Times
Labels: fiber, live longer
