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Displaying items by tag: scoliosis
Dr. Brian T Dovorany provides scoliosis rehabilitation in Wisconsin and offers a 2 week scoliosis boot camp which can significantly reduce a scoliosis curvature when measured on x-ray using the Cobb’s method. The program aids as a jump start to successfully reducing and stabilizing scoliosis long term in both children and adults. The boot camp program is not painful or exhausting and most patients find it much less physically demanding than they had thought it would be. Unlike traditional exercises for scoliosis treatments, like Schroth, this program doesn’t require the tremendous effort from the patient nor the precision of getting every movement or position perfect. This innovative approach recruits muscle memory through challenging the body’s postural righting reflexes which control spinal alignment. Since we cannot consciously create scoliosis through movement or positioning it is highly unlikely that you can permanently correct scoliosis using this principle.
Through tremendous amounts of trial and error Dr Dovorany has developed a mechanism in which we can cause scoliosis in a person that doesn’t have the condition and therefore using this principle we can apply this mechanism to correct scoliosis. Since the body responds in time and in need to its environment by challenging the postural reflexes correctly we can cause the body to adapt to this increased demand and significantly reduce an existing spinal curvature and in some instances eliminate the scoliosis all together.
Scoliosis Rehabilitation in Wisconsin has helped hundreds of children and adults successfully reduce and stabilize their scoliosis without labor intensive home care which often takes hours out of your day for a few degrees of change but rather significantly reducing scoliosis by as much as 80% in as little as 20 minutes twice a day. If this sounds too good to be true than just take a look at our results page or ask to contact other patients who have received Scoliosis Rehabilitation in Wisconsin by Dr Dovorany to find out how they were able to succeed at beating their scoliosis condition. Better than braces, safer than surgery and certainly less work with greater rewards than the Schroth program right here in Wisconsin.
Am J Orthop 2002 Jul;31 (7) :387-95 Ahn et al, New Hampshire Spine Institute
The use of postural analysis as a screening tool for idiopathic scoliosis screenings it vastly under used. This is particularly unfortunate, because it provides the most sensitive data and earliest spinal curvature detection warnings. While posture analysis may not be terribly helpful to the untrained observer, it can be an invaluable tool with a few basic tips from the pros.
1. Limit your focus points.
2. Evaluating posture is just like eating an elephant; you need to do it one bite at a time just like everything else. Instead of just gazing across your child’s posture and attempt to take everything in at once, try starting with observing 5 key piece of information.
Forward head posture: Does your child’s ear hole line up with the tip of their shoulder?
Head to hip line: Imagine a line that extends for between your child’s eyes and goes straight down to their hips.
Does the center of the head line up with the center of their hips?
Anyone of these or a combination of any of these could indicate a spinal curvature in its early stages and should be evaluated by a trained posture analysis expert immediately.
Be sure to check out our interactive scoliosis posture exercise analysis tool at http://www.treatingscoliosis.com/early-stage.html# Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT.
The current statistical data regarding AIS adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis suggests that there is an 8 to 1 occurrence rate of scoliosis in females versus males. There have been several theories suggesting the root cause of this huge gap between the much higher occurrences of scoliosis in adolescent females versus the males. This detailed paper published in 2009 in Scoliosis is one of the best and most comprehensive papers discussing the different theoretical models of scoliosis etiology I have seen.
In this paper the definition of postural maturity (Figure 15 page 22)Scoliosis_Eitiology.pdf really gains some traction and can nicely explain why scoliosis is more prevalent in female adolescents. The idea that the nervous system has an actual timeline in which the posture control mechanism matures is brilliant and very provable. The righting reflexes consisting of the eyes, ears and body joint receptors can easily be tested. The shear fact that the strength of this system improves and stabilizes at a certain age approximately 12 years old allows us to see why scoliosis, a neurological problem, can hit the female population more frequently.
Since females enter pubertal growth spurt at an earlier age and usually before postural maturity this would mean female rapid growth occurs primarily while the spines stability control is underdeveloped leading to brain-body confusion and an increased prevalence of spinal imbalance and curvature development. Males enter their growth spurt while this central spine stabilizing system is strong allowing a much better control of imbalance and better compensation for imbalances as the body rapidly changes form.
The importance of a child entering a neurological based rehabilitation program to strengthen the postural control system prior to rapid growth becomes apparent when looking into this theoretical model of prevalence differentials. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781798/
Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT.
Projectional distortion of the spine on traditional radiographic (x-rays) evalutation has long been know to be a source of error and uncertainty to the scoliosis clinician. New 3-D imaging techniques are now demostrating how much and significant that projectional distortion changes the specific features of the scoliotic vertebrea at the apical and junctional zones. Here is the full study.
3D_alignment_in_asymptomatics.pdf
"The 3-D values confirm the large interindividual variability and pertinence of the well-established correlations between spinal and pelvic parameters. However, significant differences were found between 3-D and 2-D values. These findings would suggest that caution should be advised when using sagittal radiographs, especially for kyphosis."
"A better understanding of the 3-D aspects of posture will thereby become possible. This preliminary study opens the door to more extensive 3-D referential values, and original 3-D criteria to define posture and balance." Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT.
An Interview with Dr. James Ogilvie, Past President of the Scoliosis Research Society, and Founder & Chief Medical Advisor for Axial BioTech, the Creators of the ScoliScore™ Genetic Prognostic Test for Scoliosis
Dr. James Ogilvie is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon. In addition to private practice, Dr. Ogilvie is adjunct Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and Professor Emeritus, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN. He is Staff Surgeon / Attending Staff at Shriners Hospital Intermountain Unit in Salt Lake City.
He is an active member of many prestigious organizations including the Academic Orthopaedic Society, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Scoliosis Research Society, and Society of Military Orthopaedic Surgeons. Dr. Ogilvie served as a Commander in the United States Naval Reserve.
CI: Please tell us about the ScoliScore™ prognostic test for scoliosis. What led you to create this test, and how do you feel it will impact the way scoliosis is managed today?
James Ogilvie MD: Our initial goal was to identify the 85% of children with mild adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) who would not progress to the surgical range untreated. The current standard is to monitor everyone with multiple clinic visits and x-rays which are both expensive and present the danger of radiation exposure to growing children.
CI: Is the ScoliScore™ test expensive? Does it hurt? How accurate is it?
JO: The DNA-based test is less expensive than other comparable genetic tests and costs $2950. Our patient assistance program means that unless someone is wealthy they seldom have an out of pocket expense. It is less expensive than unnecessary years of doctor visits and x-rays. It’s a saliva-based test (no blood drawing required), and has been clinically validated to be 98% accurate. For those with a risk score of less than 50 there is less than 1% probability of progression. We have no cases of progression with scores less than 30. There is a caveat that sometimes a misdiagnosis is present and a patient's curve may progress. An MRI is then indicated and we have instances of syringomyelia or other conditions that cause progressive spine deformity.
CI: One of the reasons we at CLEAR Institute are so excited about the ScoliScore™ test is because of the potential it offers for a more efficient, personalized system of scoliosis treatment. What do you feel are some of the problems with the current system of how scoliosis is managed?
JO: The current clinical guidelines cannot identify progressive from non-progressive AIS. DNA testing allows a personalized risk of progression that is unique to each patient.
CI: You’ve published dozens of important research articles in very well-recognized journals. In one of your recent scientific articles, you utilized the potential of the ScoliScore™ test to determine which patients were at a high risk for progression, and compared two groups of patients - braced & non-braced. Your conclusion was that there is no significant difference in the natural history of scoliosis between the two groups. Could you share with us your thoughts about how this study is different than any other study which has been done on bracing in the past? Did the results of this study surprise you?
JO: Rigid bracing has been commonly practiced by spine surgeons for more than 100 years. Unfortunately those studies were unable to risk stratify the enrolled patients. Therefore they observed some that had a high risk of progression and braced some that had less than 1% risk of progression. No definitive answers have come from the current brace studies. Many surgeons have suspected this was the case, but bracing had become the “standard of care” and it was too threatening not to brace young patients.
CI: We’ve heard a great deal about the Bracing in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Trial (BrAIST) study that is currently being led by Stuart Weinstein, MD, at the University of Iowa, which is the largest NIH-funded clinical trial in the history of orthopaedic pediatrics, and is scheduled for completion this August. What are your thoughts about this study? Do you think patients benefit from bracing?
JO: Without a knowledge of an individual patient’s risk of progression, some patients with little risk are being braced unnecessarily and some who have a very high risk are assigned to the observation arm. In effect, there is one equation with two unknowns, treatment assignment and genetic risk of progression. A single equation with two unknowns cannot be answered.
CI: The roots of bracing as a treatment for scoliosis go back a long ways (as early as 650 AD, Paul of Aegina was bracing scoliosis patients with wooden strips & bandages). What do you see happening in the future for scoliosis braces?
JO: With an understanding of the genetic factors that influence AIS progression and identify an individual’s risk, future spine therapists can challenge the current ineffective treatment routines and innovate on new therapies.
CI: If bracing is found not to be effective, do you think school scoliosis screening programs for scoliosis should be eliminated? How do you think ScoliScore™ will affect the potential benefit of scoliosis screening programs?
JO: Current school screening is not effective. However, early screening in school or a doctor’s visit is necessary to diagnosis AIS in its early stages when non-surgical treatments are more effective.
CI: Many people believe there are barriers to integrated medicine – that is, traditional medicine working hand-in-hand with alternative treatments such as chiropractic. Your presence here today is proof that hope exists for doctors of all specialties to work together for the common good of the patient, and it is greatly appreciated! What do you recognize as the major obstacles that prevent orthopedic surgeons from referring patients with mild scoliosis to a chiropractor?
JO: Health science is not the province of only one discipline. Allopathic medicine is ideally evidence-based. Surgeons will refer appropriate patients to the chiropractic profession, much as we refer patients to orthotists, as scientific evidence is generated that validates non-surgical treatment.
CI: Last March, some of the members of CLEAR Institute, including the founder, Dr. Dennis Woggon, were invited to the headquarters of Axial BioTech in Salt Lake City, Utah, for an opportunity to learn more about the ScoliScore™ test and tour the $19-million dollar facility in person. It made a very positive impression on everyone from CLEAR, and we would like to thank you again for Axial’s warm hospitality at that meeting. It was also an occasion for you to learn more about the methods & protocols developed by CLEAR Institute. What did you think about this new system of scoliosis treatment? Did anything in particular about CLEAR Institute impress you?
JO: I was impressed with two items, first the innovative approach that CLEAR has taken to non-operative AIS treatment is needed. With a realization that bracing is at best not very successful and at worst, not useful at all, innovative physiologic treatment regimes are needed. Secondly, CLEAR has made a commitment to evaluate these new therapies in a manner that will pass scientific scrutiny.
CI: The potential of the ScoliScore™ test to revolutionize research into scoliosis is amazing. For the first time in history, we have a method of identifying which patients are most likely to progress to surgical levels. In your opinion, is it possible that an individual at high risk could undergo a treatment which reduces their chance of progression? In other words, could it be possible to re-test someone after treatment and see a lower ScoliScore™ test result?
JO: It would be unlikely that the human genome will be changed by physical treatments. However, the expression of those genes can be modified.
CI: Dr. Ogilvie, thank you again for donating your time to share your knowledge & wisdom. Do you have any final words for our readers?
JO: DNA prognostic testing is only the beginning of our understanding of AIS genetics. As we learn what those causative genes do we may have even more effective interventions. Thank you for your generosity in letting me introduce genetic science into the treatment of a disorder in which we all have a great interest. Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT.
From the patent for the soon-to-be-released (hopefully) scoliosis blood test......
"The present invention also encompasses the monitoring of the biomarkers disclosed herein to assess the efficacy of numerous approaches to prevent scoliosis and curve progression such as any physical therapies (e.g. postural exercises, physiotherapies, biomechanical stimulations by manipulation or using specific devices e.g. vibrant plates); the monitoring of scoliosis brace efficacy or development of novel scoliosis braces; the monitoring of new surgical devices with or without fusion of vertebras, and the monitoring of the efficacy of specific diet, nutraceutical and/or pharmacological treatments. Without being so limited, the first measure after the scoliosis braces have been applied could be performed 1 month later to determine for instance whether the braces are well adjusted and determine whether the patient is compliant to the treatment. Thereafter, the monitoring could be performed every three to six months depending on whether high OPN levels are detected or not. This method of the present invention may advantageously reduces the requirement for x-rays. X-rays could be performed for instance only at visits where OPN levels detected are too high. Any amount of a pharmaceutical and/or nutraceutical and/or dietary supplement compositions can be administered to a subject. The dosages will depend on many factors including the mode of administration. Typically, the amount of anti-scoliosis composition (e.g. osteopontin inhibitor or selenium compound) contained within a single dose will be an amount that effectively prevents, delays or reduces scoliosis without inducing significant toxicity "therapeutically effective amount". [00115] In some embodiments, the therapeutically effective amount of the neutraceutical anti-scoliosis composition (e.g. selenium supplement) can be altered. Useful effective amount concentrations include amounts ranging from about 0.01% to about 10% of a total diet on a weight by weight basis, from about 1% to about 6% of a total diet on a weight by weight basis, or from about 02% to about 6% of a total diet on a weight by weight basis. [00116] The effective amount of the osteopontin inhibitor or selenium compound may also be measured directly. The effective amount may be given daily or weekly or fractions thereof. Typically, a pharmaceutical and/or nutraceutical and/or dietary supplement composition of the invention can be administered in an amount from about 0.001 mg up to about 500 mg per kg of body weight per day (e.g., 10 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, or 250 mg). Dosages may be provided in either a single or multiple dosage regimen. For example, in some embodiments the effective amount is a dose that ranges from about 1 mg to about 25 grams of the anti-scoliose preparation per day, about 50 mg to about 10 grams of the anti-scoliose preparation per day, from about 100 mg to about 5 grams of the anti-scoliose preparation per day, about 1 gram of the anti-scoliose preparation per day, about 1 mg to about 25 grams of the anti-scoliose preparation per week, about 50 mg to about 10 grams of the anti-scoliose preparation per week, about 100 mg to about 5 grams of the anti-scoliose preparation every other day, and about 1 gram of the anti-scoliose preparation once a week. [00117] By way of example, a pharmaceutical (e.g. containing an osteopontin inhibitor) and/or nutraceutical (e.g. containing selenium) and/or dietary supplement (e.g. containing selenium) composition of the invention can be in the form of a liquid, solution, suspension, pill, capsule, tablet, gelcap, powder, gel, ointment, cream, nebulae, mist, atomized vapor, aerosol, or phytosome. For oral administration, tablets or capsules can be prepared by conventional means with at least one pharmaceutically acceptable excipient such as binding agents, fillers, lubricants, disintegrants, or wetting agents. The tablets can be coated by methods known in the art. Liquid preparations for oral administration can take the form of, for example, solutions, syrups, or suspension, or they can be presented as a dry product for constitution with saline or other suitable liquid vehicle before use. Dietary supplements of the invention also can contain pharmaceutically acceptable additives such as suspending agents, emulsifying agents, non-aqueous vehicles, preservatives, buffer salts, flavoring, coloring, and sweetening agents as appropriate. Preparations for oral administration also can be suitably formulated to give controlled release of the active ingredients.
an organoselenium naturally occurring in diet, are used to prevent metastasis in breast cancer as chemopreventive therapy by targeting OPN transcription (43-45). [00167] Plasma selenium concentration was thus measured in pediatric populations (AIS vs. healthy controls) to determine whether or not low selenium levels correlate with higher OPN concentrations in AIS. Plasma selenium concentrations were determined by a fluorometric method using 2,3-diaminonaphthalene (DAN) (46, 47). Results presented in Figures 18 and 19 show a correlation between high OPN levels and low selenium levels in scoliotic and asymptomatic at risk children." Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT.
What do scoliosis and heart attacks have in common?
Well, cardio-vascular disease (CVD) and idiopathic scoliosis are both "multi-factorial" diseases, which means the condition is caused by a combination of both genetic pre-disposition and environmental factors.....NOT just one or the other.
CVD stats from the Nation Institute of Health indicate a the annual number of deaths from CVD increased substantially from 1900 to 1970. The death rate for CVD increased from 1920 until it peaked in 1968. Since then, the trend has been downward. In 2007, the rate was near the all-time low in 1900. While some of this undoubtly can be contributed to improved care at the time of the event, most researcherc cite the decline in the death rated to the fact that fewer and fewer heart attacks are occuring per capita. So what has changed between 1968 and now? Well, modern medicine stopped treating heart attacks and started preventing them.....mainly through the elimination and reduction of the environmental factors which helped to mimimize the risk of CVD even in patients with high genetic predisposition. It has become so common place in CVD that mainstream medicine and has basically adapted the concept as the stardard of care.....Cholesteral/ blood pressuring lowering drugs, special diets, stress reduction, avoidance of cigarette smoke, and a new emphasis on aerobic exercise are all efforts to reduce/minimize the enviromental factors, that when combined with one's genetic predisposition, cause heart attacks.
The same should hold true for scoliosis treament, but yet it doesn't. The spinal curvature (often expressed in terms of Cobb angles) is the end result of genetic pre-disposition and environmental factors.....essentially, the spinal curvature is the "heart attack" (metaphorically speaking).
The advent of scoliscore genetic testing can now provide us reliable and accurate information in regards to one's genetic pre-disposition and allow us to shift our focus from the treatment of the end result (scoliosis/heart attack), to a prevenative approach of environmental factor reduction/elimination (biomechancial factors, high risk activities, nutritional modifications, ect.) This approach will allow us to alter the natural course of the condition (just like it has in CVD) and prevent small curves from progressing to surgical threshold. In fact, The most recent understanding of epigenetics strongly suggests Early Stage Scoliosis Intervention that reduces/eliminates the patient's risk of severe scoliosis progression could and should be utilized with or without genetic testing and regardless of the high, low, or intermediate genetic risk in an effort to reduce the risk of passing over-stimulated scoliosis genetics on to future generations. "Could you reduce the risk of passing scoliosis genes onto your children?"
http://www.fixscoliosis.com/threads/...-your-children strategy has been successfully deployed in other conditions as well, with similar success.
This Early Stage Scoliosis Intervention + Genetic testing are the keys to altering the natural course of the condition will one day lead to a cure for scoliosis, but only after modern medcine makes the treatment shift to reducing/eliminating environmenal factors that cause scoliosis; rather than attempting to treat solely the scoliotic curvature after it has already progressed to a severe degree. Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT.
There are many symptoms associated with idiopathic scoliosis which range from spine/body deformity, pain, restricted breathing, depression to decreased social functioning, limited physical activity, and lower quality of life. How every there is one symptom which is often over looked and left out entirely.
What if the Cobb angle is really just a "symptom" of the unseen neurological condition that is outwardly and physically manifested as idiopathic scoliosis? I mean, scoliosis is a multi-factorial condition caused by the combination of genetic pre-disposition and environmental influences, so wouldn't anything else be considered a "symptom"?
It is kind of like watching the wind out a window. You can't see the wind, but you can see the effects of the wind on the trees, grass, ect....What if the same is true with scoliosis?...you can't see the neurological condition, but you can see it's effects on the spine.
So scoliosis bracing and scoliosis surgery would only be treating the symptom, not the condition itself. Deep huh?
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Why does idiopathic scoliosis progress during a growth spurt?
Porter supported the uncoupled neuro-osseous growth concept of idiopathic scoliosis being a physical manifestation of the maladaption of the growing immature spine to the tether created by the short spinal cord. This evidence for this was the finding that the conus medullaris (the end of the spinal cord) position is NOT significantly different from that of a normal spine.
Dr. Chu re-examined the Roth-Porter theory via an MRI study (comparing AIS patients with severe curvatures vs normal subjects) in 2007. They found the vertebral column in the AIS population was significantly longer, yet the there was no detectable change in spinal cord length. They speculated that the initiation and progression of AIS result from vert. column over-growth through a maladapation of the spine to the subclinical tether of a relatively short spinal cord.
Basically, the kids with significant adverse mechanical tension on the CNS/spinal cord in 2 dimensions (side view and front view) are a ticking time bomb for the "coil down" effect when the cord is stretched a 3rd dimension (vertically) during a growth spurt. The coiling down of the spine (which produces the rapid increase in Cobb angle) is the body's effort to reduce the adverse mechanical tension on the CNS/Spinal cord by reducing the overall vertical length of the spine (which is transfered into the coronal plane (front-back view) from the vertical dimesion via the coil down effect) |
