Researchers identify link between GPR126 gene and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences in Japan have identified the first gene to be associated with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (also called AIS) across Asian and Caucasian populations. The gene is involved in the growth and development of the spine during childhood.

Their study is published today in the journal Nature Genetics.

AIS is the most common pediatric skeletal disease, affecting approximately 2% of school-age children. The causes of scoliosis remain largely unknown and brace treatment and surgery are the only treatment options. However, many clinical and genetic studies suggest a contribution of genetic factors.

To understand the causes and development of scoliosis, Dr Ikuyo Kou, Dr Shiro Ikegawa and their team have tried to identify genes that are associated with a susceptibility to develop the condition.

By studying the genome of 1,819 Japanese individuals suffering from scoliosis and comparing it to 25,939 Japanese individuals, the team identified a gene associated with a susceptibility to develop scoliosis on chromosome 6. The association was replicated in Han Chinese and Caucasian populations.

The researchers show that the susceptibility gene, GPR126, is highly expressed incartilage and that suppression of this gene leads to delayed growth and bone tissue formation in the developing spine. GPR126 is also known to play a role in human height and trunk length.

"Our finding suggest the interesting possibility that GPR126 may affect both AIS susceptibility and height through abnormal spinal development and growth," explain the authors.

"Further functional studies are necessary to elucidate how alterations in GPR126 increase the risk of AIS in humans," they conclude.

Source: RIKEN

Is There a Orthopedic Conflict of Interest?

Do orthopedists fail to suggest early-intervention or alternative scoliosis treatments because of a conflict of interest?

Why do orthopedists discourage alternative scoliosis treatments even if patients show improvement from them?

The medical approach to scoliosis treatment is to watch and wait, brace and then operate. During the “wait and see” period Orthopedists generally do not advise patients of alternative treatment options and some even laugh or scoff at the slightest suggestion. Patients are made to feel absurd if they want to pursue proactive or preventative treatments during this pre-brace/pre-surgery period and instead are advised to just sit idly while their curves progress until bracing or surgery become “necessary”. Some parents choose to research treatment and opt to try alternative treatments anyway and upon re-evaluation by their doctor are told they are wasting their time! Parents are belittled and made to feel negligent and are even harassed by their orthopedist.
If there are far less risks involved with alternative treatments, they are received while patients are in the “wait & see” period, and if these treatments show improvement to the patient’s scoliosis, then why is the medically community so against them?
In Scoliosis and the Human Spine, a book written by Martha C. Hawes, Ph.D, Dr. Hawes (a research scientist  who herself has a large scoliosis) outlines what appears to be a “conflict of interest”. The conflict of interests center around the medical community’s lack of regard for an exercise based program of scoliosis care and correction.
Martha C. Hawes, Ph.D, author and patient. 

Straightening Out the Problem: King Richard III Went Through Traction Torture Treatments to Fix Hunchback

Let's set the record straight: King Richard III may not have been a hunchback, as commonly portrayed by Shakespeare. However, scientists believe that he did suffer from scoliosis, a spine-curving condition that can cause complications standing or sitting for long periods of time. Scientists now think that he may have undergone painful medical treatments to straighten out this health problem.

In February, archaeologists excavated bones from underneath a parking lot in Leicester, England, that belonged to the medieval king. Since his confirmation, examiners have continued to look for bones and historical records.

Previous work showed King Richard III likely developed severe scoliosis, a painful condition, in his teen years. [Image Gallery: Photos Reveal the Discovery of Richard III]

Randomized controlled trial: Vitamin D and gene expression

Posted on April 6, 2013 by John Cannell, MD

We know that vitamin D controls from anywhere between 0. 5% of the human genome to up to 5%, depending on what review one reads. New genes are being discovered every day that vitamin D either upregulates or down regulates. That is, vitamin D either increases or decreases the protein that gene transcribes.

However, no one has ever done a gene microarray analysis (a way of looking at a large number of genes) of patients before and after vitamin D administration. That is, no one had ever done it until Professor Michael Holick’s lab reported such a study recently in the Plos Onejournal.

Hossein-Nezhad A, Spira A, Holick MF.  Influence of vitamin D status and vitamin D3 supplementation on genome wide expression of white blood cells: a randomized double-blind clinical trial. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e58725.

Physical capacity of girls with moderate scoliosis is considerably lower than girls without scoliosis

Thursday, 01 Dec 2011 11:29 
A new study in the European Spine Journal, published ahead of print, shows that girls aged 10–18 years with moderate scoliosis have considerably lower physical capacity scores than girls of the same age without scoliosis. However, girls with mild scoliosis do not appear to have lower physical capacity scores. 

The purpose of the new study was to assess the impact of curvature angle value, the number of vertebrae in curvatures, and the number of curvatures on the physical capacity (by measuring maximum oxygen input and output during the PWC170 test) of girls aged 10–18 with mild or moderate idiopathic scoliosis. This is because, at present, while studies have shown that untreated severe thoracic scoliosis is associated with increased mortality (related to right heart failure due to congestive lung disease), the effect that the earlier stages of scoliosis have on respiratory function is not fully understood.

Pregnancy and Scoliosis

Since idiopathic scoliosis is common in girls there are concerns about the effects it may have on pregnancy or becoming pregnant. Over the past 40 years, several studies have been conducted with hundreds of women that showed no difference in pregnancy, labor, delivery and fetal complications for women with scoliosis compared to women without. In most cases there are very few risks to becoming pregnant with scoliosis. There is no evidence that scoliosis damages fertility or leads to an increased number of miscarriages, stillbirths or congenital malformations. It does not provide any adverse effects on the pregnancy nor ability to deliver children.

Another major concern is increased risk of progression of the scoliosis. Some studies have shown that patients lost 2, 6, and 18 degrees of correction during their first pregnancies, but curves stayed the same or improved with later pregnancies. Generally, scoliosis does not increase during pregnancy. Pregnancy hormones decrease the activity of the immune system and scoliosis is often stabilized during pregnancy. As long as the curve is not still progressing, the weight gained during pregnancy does not increase the curvature.

Aside from a mild degree of restricted lung capacity, individuals with idiopathic scoliosis rarely experience breathing problems during pregnancy. Breathlessness on exertion is common in the early months of pregnancy for all women, to some extent. Shortness of breath is partly caused by the rise in progesterone, which stimulates breathing by increasing respiratory rate and the depth of each breath. Blood volume also increases. These normal physiological changes are well tolerated and only likely to prove a problem if the vital capacity is low or heart function is compromised. Scoliosis that occurs in the thoracic (middle) spine may affect breathing. Bladder and bowel problems may be an issue for women with scoliosis who already have urinary or bowel dysfunction

Probiotics are not only powerful gut-healers - they improve bone density, study shows

A doctor of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) once told this author that "disease begins in the gut." Ayurvedic medicine also has a similar premise. Bad or sub-optimal digestion leads to all sorts of disease. That includes disease beyond the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride and others in Western medicine have taken this premise beyond physical ailments into the mind-body relationship with GAPS, or Gut and Psychology Syndrome, by treating mental disorders from ADD to Autism.

Their success has come from altering the diet to allow the gut to heal and good bacteria in the intestinal flora to thrive.

So there's more to the good bacteria in the gut than most think. Even more than digestion, as important as that is. These supportive bacteria in the gut also signal different parts of the immune system in other areas of the body. It's estimated that up to 80 percent of the immune system is involved with the gut's good bacteria.

Most People Can Skip Calcium Supplements, Prevention Panel Says

Women have been told for years that if they don't take calcium supplements religiously, they're putting themselves at risk of crippling hip fractures in old age. Now the word from a major government panel: Why bother? There's no evidence that taking calcium supplements reduces the risk of fractures for most people, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said. The recommendations were published online Monday by the Annals of Internal Medicine. That applies to postmenopausal women, the target audience for calcium supplements. "We're not saying don't use it," says Linda Baumann, a member of the task force and a professor emerita of nursing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "But think about it, because we're not sure it has the benefit you think it has." The task force said that taking up to 1,000 milligrams a day of calcium supplements and up to 400 international units of vitamin D daily did nothing to prevent fractures in healthy people, while slightly increasing the risk of kidney stones.

How Whole Body Vibration Exercises Can Help Improve Fitness in the Elderly

By Dr. Mercola

Exercise is a critical part of a healthy lifestyle, and it can be a part of your life no matter what your age. In fact, staying active becomes increasingly important as you get older.

Even frail seniors of advanced age can improve muscle strength and agility with exercise, which is important for preventing falls and injuries.

For seniors who have a hard time performing aerobic exercise, using a Whole Body Vibration (WBV) platform (such as The Power Plate) can help them improve performance, allowing them to become stronger, faster and more agile, according to recent research¹.

As explained by Dr. Keith DeOrio, M.D²., WBV stimulation affects your entire body musculature, as well as your internal organs and glands. 

Your muscle spindles fire secondary to the mechanical stimulation produced by the vibrating plate, and this rapid firing of the muscle spindle causes a neuromuscular response that leads to physiological changes in your brain as well as your entire body.  

How Whole Body Vibration Can Improve Fitness in Those Over 65

Surprising Health Hazards Associated with All-Fruit Diet

By Dr. Mercola

Fruits are loaded with healthy antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, which is why eating them in moderation is fine for healthy people. However, many benefit by restricting their fruit intake.

Fructose, a simple sugar found in fruit, is preferentially metabolized to fat in your liver, and eating large amounts has been linked to negative metabolic and endocrine effects. So eating very large amounts – or worse, nothing but fruit – can logically increase your risk of a number of health conditions, from insulin and leptin resistance to cancer.

For example, research has shown that pancreatic tumor cells use fructose, specifically, to divide and proliferate, thus speeding up the growth and spread of the cancer.

As a general health rule, I recommend limiting your total fructose consumption to about 25 grams per day on average, and that includes fructose from fruit. However, if you have insulin resistance, heart disease, cancer or high blood pressure, you may want to cut it down to 15 grams or less.

Kutcher Lands in Hospital After Adopting All-Fruit Diet

Actor Ashton Kutcher recently disclosed health issues brought on by following an all-fruit diet,¹ adopted in preparation to play the character of Steve Jobs in the upcoming film “Jobs,” due out April 19.

Jobs had adopted an all-fruit diet in his younger days, and even the brand he co-founded – Apple – was a nod to his dietary obsession. Kutcher recently told USA Today:²

"First of all, the fruitarian diet can lead to like severe issues. I went to the hospital like two days before we started shooting the movie. I was like doubled over in pain. My pancreas levels were completely out of whack. It was really terrifying ... considering everything."

The “everything” is likely a reference to pancreatic cancer – the disease that killedSteve Jobs on October 5, 2011, at the age of 56. Even though Jobs consumed a fruitarian diet years before he contracted his pancreatic cancer, there could be some relationship.

Why Large Amounts of Fruit May Not Be Healthy