International Scoliosis Day 2020: The importance of timely treatment in Scoliosis - The Financial Express
International Scoliosis Day 2020: The importance of timely treatment in Scoliosis - The Financial Express |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2020 03:19 AM PDT  By Dr SK Rajan Attributing to manifold reasons, India is a home to the largest number of cases of spinal deformities. The major causes include accidents, social violence, nutrition deficiency, post-polio complications and congenital problems. While scoliosis is one of the underrated spinal complications in its mild form, yet the society has stigmatized such patients. Every year the month of June is dedicated to raise awareness about the condition and this year 27th June (Last Saturday) is observed International Scoliosis day. Timely detection and treatment can help in treating the condition, creating awareness among the masses is as much important. Related News What is scoliosis?Scoliosis is a deformity when the spine becomes abnormally curved sideways. In most of the cases the cause is not known and it develops and seems noticeable around the teen age. A person is said to have scoliosis when the curve measures more than 10 degrees. Severe spinal curve reduces the amount of space within the chest making it difficult for the lungs to function. Causes of Scoliosis1. Idiopathic – Most of the time, the exact cause and reasons are unknown, which is known as idiopathic. 2. Known cause – when the scoliosis has clear causes. It is categorized into two –
3. Congenital – Sometimes during pregnancy, the baby develops incomplete vertebrates that lead to failure of its division leading to a curve in the spine. It is merely noticeable during a child's birth and is prominent when the kid is around their teenage. 4. Neuromuscular- This is seen in conditions like poliomyelitis, spinal muscular atrophy, cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome, where the deformity is a result of weakness in the muscles supporting the back. As a result of this, the patient collapses whenever they try to sit up. 5. Degenerative – This is commonly found in the geriatric population. As we age, the Bone Mineral Density reduces and the disks and joints of the spine wear out leading to formation of a curve in the lower back. What are the types of Curve?Most often the curve looks like a C-shaped and when there are two major curves it appears in the shape of S, commonly known as Double major curve. 1. Dextro-scoliosis – when the inclination is towards the right side of the spine.
2. Levo-scoliosis – when the inclination is towards the left side of the spine.
Symptoms of Adult ScoliosisThe primary and usual symptoms of scoliosis include back pain, and depending upon the position of the curve in the spine, other symptoms may vary. For instance, if the curve is major in the lumbar part, the patient will only feel back pain, but if the curve involves the thoracic spine, back pain may be accompanied by breathing difficulties, reduced lung functions and even heart lung functioning may be compromised. Sometimes in mild to moderate cases (when the angle of the curve is small, the condition is misunderstood for osteoarthritic pain. As a consequences, depending on the position and severity of the condition a person may develop the following physical traits –
What are the treatment options?Observation: A patient with very mild curves is kept under observation before opting for the correct treatment module. Bracing: In mild to moderate curves in children who are of growing age, braces will help. Spinal Fusion surgery (Deformity Correction and fusion): When the curve is significant and is still progressive, especially close to skeletal maturity, deformity correction and fusion surgery is performed where the bent or curved structure is held using pedicle screws, hooks and wires to keep the spine straight and still. And when this surgery is performed under the guidance of neuromonitoring and navigation, it helps in relating the position of the surgical instrument accurately in the real time thus increasing the accuracy, lessening the operating time. Moreover, it makes the surgical procedure safe without any complications and ensures a quicker recovery. (The author is Head, Spine Surgery, Agrim institute of Neurosciences, Artemis Hospital, Gurugram. Views are personal) Get live Stock Prices from BSE, NSE, US Market and latest NAV, portfolio of Mutual Funds, calculate your tax by Income Tax Calculator, know market's Top Gainers, Top Losers & Best Equity Funds. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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| Polio perspective - Hockessin Community news Posted: 03 Jun 2020 12:00 AM PDT Survivors see similarities in virus outbreaks The coronavirus pandemic is the first virus many Americans have seen that has caused widespread fear, but it brings back memories for others. John Nanni of Middletown and Alex Vaughan of Dover are polio survivors. Diagnosed with the life-threatening disease before age 2, both have lived through the panic caused by polio and now COVID-19. From closing schools to waiting for a vaccine, Nanni and Vaughan see many similarities and differences between the country's reaction. Surviving polio In 1953, Nanni was 10 months old and living in Binghamton, New York when he was diagnosed with polio, which paralyzed him from the neck down. His mother gave him physical therapy, so his muscles wouldn't atrophy. His mother's efforts helped him walk again. Nanni survived the virus, but his struggles didn't end. Growing up, he was physically weaker and slower than the rest of the kids his age. Although he struggled, he knows he is one of the lucky ones. "I've been very blessed. If I was born in a developing country, I wouldn't be here today," Nanni said. Over the years, he has experienced post-polio syndrome — a condition that causes muscle weakness, fatigue and joint pain in polio survivors — but the 67-year-old still lives a full life. Nanni is the president of the Middletown-Odessa-Townsend Rotary Club and Rotary District 7630 PolioPlus committee chair for Delaware and Eastern Shore Maryland. In these roles, he has spent part of his adulthood learning about the outbreak and helping eradicate polio around the world. Just like Nanni, Vaughan's mother was one of the reasons he was able to survive. Vaughan said he was always an active child. When he was 18 months old, his mother began to notice he wasn't walking around the house as much as he used to. He was diagnosed with polio, which stunted growth in his right leg. He said most medical professionals in his community didn't know the proper way to treat the virus, but the common consensus was rest and inactivity. Vaughan's mother disagreed. "I know my mother was quite the warrior," he said. "She was one of the first proponents in our circle of friends who used isometrics to help treat me. They had no clue what to do, but she knew sitting still was not the right thing. She kept me active." Vaughan, now 68 years old, is the chief entertainment officer for Affinity Entertainment Delaware and is active in his Rotary Club. Symptomatic or not Like COVID-19, people could be contagious with poliomyelitis before symptoms appeared. Nanni said researchers didn't know why some people who caught the virus had mild symptoms and others had extreme outcomes, including paralysis or death. "It's why polio was so hard to stop," he said. "Back then, they knew less about polio than what they know now about the coronavirus." The poliovirus spreads from person to person, entering the body through the mouth by the sneeze or cough of an infected person or by contact with feces. Polio — which affects the spinal cord, causing paralysis — was once one of the most feared diseases in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control, polio outbreaks in the U.S. increased in frequency and size in the late 1940s and continued throughout the early 1950s. Polio outbreaks caused more than 15,000 cases of paralysis each year until a vaccine was introduced in 1955. Vaughan said panic increased throughout the 40s and 50s, but the virus had been in the U.S. for decades before then. He said media and mass communication had significantly changed — television became a predominant form of media — which allowed more people access to information about polio, how many people had it and what the symptoms were. "We just need to look back and track [mass communication] over history and overlay that with what was happening at that time and how people were reacting to it. It all fits together," he said. About 72 out of every 100 people who get the virus never have visible symptoms, according to the CDC, and about one out of four people who do will have flu-like symptoms. Vaughan said many people thought polio and the flu were the same because it was hard to differentiate between the two unless there was paralysis. COVID-19 has hit all age groups but has affected elderly and those with preexisting conditions the worst. It was possible for all age groups to get polio, but children were infected more often. "To this day, they still don't know why children were susceptible to polio and adults were not, I suspect it was because they put more things in their mouth," Nanni said. Today, hospitals and nursing homes are not allowing unnecessary visits from family members, but this is not unique. "I think it's very similar with polio survivors who are telling their stories about how they felt abandoned when they were in the hospital polio wards," Nanni said. "They went weeks without seeing their parents. When they did, it was from a far distance from behind a glass window." Virus fear COVID-19 has shut down schools, sports, businesses, playgrounds and activities. People saw such closures during the polio outbreak. According to the History Channel, the prevalence of polio in late spring and summer popularized the "fly theory" because most middle-class Americans associated disease with flies, dirt and poverty. The seasonal surge and apparent dormancy in winter matched the rise and fall of the mosquito population. Nanni said public pools, Little League fields and movie theaters were closed, most towns seemed empty and parents stopped taking their children to the grocery store. "There weren't protests. There was a lot of fear," he said. "When [people] had to quarantine, they did quarantine." Vaughan was too young to remember, but his mother told him polio "scared them half to death," but people didn't react in their community the way the country has today. "My parents were in their mid-to-late 20s, and they grew up most of their lives with polio being in their everyday life," he said. "You didn't know who was going to get it. You knew what it might do, but there is no way of knowing if you would get it." Nanni attributes this to limited federal and state government involvement in deciding what should be open and if people should be quarantined. He said communities would decide what should shut down depending on whether their area had a diagnosed case and if they had access to the vaccine. "It was more local government than federal shutting things down," Nanni said. "It was more reactive than preventive." Nanni said the localities did not start to reopen shuttered places until there was a vaccine. Finding a vaccine Researchers and health officials project a COVID-19 outbreak in the fall. The Trump administration announced "Operation Warp Speed" to accelerate vaccine development with the hope of having 300 million doses available by January. Nanni said he is concerned with the country opening up too soon, given the lack of social distancing he still sees. "You see these people on beaches and those protestors who are going around to these state capitol buildings and they are not wearing masks and they are all bunched together," he said. "If you really do any research at all, scientifically, one person can affect so many people." Vaughan said he is hopeful doctors will find a vaccine that will eradicate the coronavirus, just like the one for polio did. Until there is a vaccine, he said people should follow safe practices and use proper caution to keep everyone healthy. "We are in the beginning stages of a disease that might affect people for a generation or more," Vaughan said. "It might just be like polio in the early part of the 20th century. It might be something our people will have to learn to live with. It can hit you or miss you and that's just life."  |
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