Evidence that bone mineral density plays a role in degenerative disc disease: the UK Twin Spine study

Gregory Livshits, Sergey Ermakov, Maria Popham, Alex J. MacGregor, Philip N. Sambrook, Timothy D. Spector, Frances M. K. Williams

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

63 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) and osteoporosis are often considered to lie at opposite ends of a spectrum of bone phenotypes. Lumbar degenerative disc disease (LDD) may be associated with low back pain (LBP) and is similar in many ways to OA. LDD is reported in small studies to be associated with increased spine bone mineral density (BMD). The present work aimed to confirm this association in a large population sample using MRI and explore the relationship further, in particular to determine whether it is mediated genetically.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2102-2106
Number of pages5
JournalAnnals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Volume69
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2010

Keywords

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Bone Density
  • Diseases in Twins
  • Epidemiologic Methods
  • Female
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Hip Joint
  • Humans
  • Intervertebral Disc Degeneration
  • Lumbar Vertebrae
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Middle Aged
  • Young Adult

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