Scoliosis: What is it good for?
Monday, May 16, 2011 at 11:57PMThere are a number of different types of curves that occur in the spine. Some are normal. Some are not. Some are a source of pain. Some are not.
Lordosis refers to an inward curve of the spine. Kyphosis refers to an outward curve of the spine. The lumbar spine and to a lesser extent the cervical spine have a normal degree of lordosis. Some kyphosis is normal in the thoracic region. Excesses in either lordosis or kyphosis can be a source of pain.
Scoliosis is a side-to-side curve in the spine. Scolioisis is always considered to be abnormal.
Just how abnormal is it, though? I see a lot of people that are noted to have some scoliosis on imaging and may have never been aware of a curve in their spine.
A recent article published in Spine investigated the prevalence of scoliosis in adults aged forty years and older.[i] The results are interesting because the numbers inform many of the discussions that I have with patients about scoliosis: How common is it? Does it always cause pain? Will it get worse with time?
The study be Kebaish et al. defined scoliosis as a curve of ≥ 11⁰. They found that around 3% of people age 40-50 years have scoliosis. The prevalence, though, increases with age and by the time people reach the age of 90 the likelihood of having scoliosis is > 50%. The overall prevalence of scoliosis for people over the age of 40 years was 8.85%.
So, increasing age was associated with a higher prevalence rate of scoliosis. Increasing age, however, was not associated with an increase in curve severity.
The authors of this study go on to hypothesize that a relationship exists between osteoporosis and scoliosis and suggest that curve progression could be related to bone osteoporosis issues.
Take home message: If you have scoliosis you are not alone. A lot of us have or will have scoliosis. While there is not much that can be done about scoliosis generally in terms of prevention, it is worth making sure bone health and bone density are given attention.
[i] Spine. 2011. 36(9): 731-736
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