Today I received an email from a scoliosis researcher and sufferer... I know nutrition is an important factor in scoliosis development and am happy to find another person who also sees the value in it. Looking forward to furthering research in this field and happy to have found a colleague committed to the same cause... its time to rethink scoliosis and start researching the cause rather than merely researching better surgical or bracing techniques! Stop masking symptoms and start treating the cause. Below is the email:
Dear Dr. Lau,
I am a scoliosis patient and I have also spent several years assisting with scoliosis research in Canada. Some of the projects I assisted in involved melatonin and scoliosis in chickens. I came across your book and website today, and I am very interested in your theories on nutrition.
I believe nutrition has played a very large role in the progression of my scoliosis. I have had 7 scoliosis surgeries, 6 of which I had when I was a teenager, and one again a few years ago, approximately 9 years later. Every time I needed surgery it was due to a failed fusion. I wore a boston brace for three years prior to my first surgery. I was also a rhythmic gymnast at the time and was very flexible and thin. I had a 98 degree curve before my first surgery. I had some complications from the most recent surgery, and I had to have my shoulder blade fused to my ribs. This fusion consequently failed twice as well. I have had lots of time in the past few years to think about my scoliosis, and during this time I also began to really pay attention to my body. I noticed things that I didn't think were normal. I looked up what I had noticed and found that they were likely from vitamin and nutrient deficiencies. I asked my doctor to test some of my vitamin levels, and I found out that I had a severe vitamin D and phosphorus deficiency. Since I have been taking vitamin D, I have not had any more problems in over a year. I have spent several hours looking up journal articles, and I have come up with several of the same factors that you mentioned in your book that I think are important, including zinc, copper, magnesium, vitamin d, calcium, and low estrogen. I was very excited to find someone who had found the same things as I had! I recently found a record of my weight as a baby, and realized that I was very underweight, at only 22 pounds at age 2.5 years. My Mother said I was a sick baby, and didn't like to eat. When I got older I also never ate much, and I especially never like to eat meat (as I understand this is a sign of a zinc deficiency). Scoliosis does run in our family, but I believe this poor diet as a child set me up for a much worse curvature than anyone else in my family has experienced.
