environmental component
Rohrer01
The trigger could be low folic acid, hormone irregularities or pretty much anything. I think as they learn more about AIS they'll break it up into multiple diseases with different triggers.
On my son's first visit his doctor told me that Scoliosis was rooted in a central nervous system disorder. According to Dr. Alain Moreau that hypothesis is correct. (Melatonin Signaling Dysfunction in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis)
If you believe this and other studies the nervous system causes changes to the spine that ultimately lead to Scoliosis. None of this is fully understood.
If he's right that leaves us with two main possibilities:
A) This nervous system disorder spread to every corner of the globe via heredity
B) Our kids have nervous system damage
Personally I'm betting on B. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that our kids have a genetic susceptability. Many kids probably do. But Scoliosis hits 2% of the population and 2 out of 3 cases occur randomly so the genetic vulnerability may be reasonably common.
By comparison Type 1 Diabetes strikes at random but it also hits some families very hard. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I believe if a parent has Type 1 his/her children have a roughly 1 in 3 chance to get Type 1. Then this comes out....
Study Of Human Pancreases Links Virus To Cause Of Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 Diabetes sounds just like Polio and I'm guessing Scoliosis. Most kids who are exposed to "disease X" will be asymptomatic or get a cold. A few unlucky kids will suffer nervous system damage that after many months or years leads to Scoliosis.
Rohrer01
I would be more inclined to believe that a scoliosis trigger may be a lack of enough folic acid during pregnancy. At least in my case, I also have spina bifida occulta. Spina bifida is connected to folic acid deficiency, and possibly heredity as well, as my son also has it. Both my mother and myself were very diligent about taking our folic acid during pregnancy. However, when I was undergoing fertility treatments and they found out about all of my back issues, they put me on mega doses of folic acid, 4mg/day. The usual amount in a non-prescription prenatal vitamin is 0.8mg/day and a prescription prenatal vitamin is 1.0mg/day. Maybe that is the environmental trigger?
On my son's first visit his doctor told me that Scoliosis was rooted in a central nervous system disorder. According to Dr. Alain Moreau that hypothesis is correct. (Melatonin Signaling Dysfunction in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis)
If you believe this and other studies the nervous system causes changes to the spine that ultimately lead to Scoliosis. None of this is fully understood.
If he's right that leaves us with two main possibilities:
A) This nervous system disorder spread to every corner of the globe via heredity
B) Our kids have nervous system damage
Personally I'm betting on B. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that our kids have a genetic susceptability. Many kids probably do. But Scoliosis hits 2% of the population and 2 out of 3 cases occur randomly so the genetic vulnerability may be reasonably common.
By comparison Type 1 Diabetes strikes at random but it also hits some families very hard. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I believe if a parent has Type 1 his/her children have a roughly 1 in 3 chance to get Type 1. Then this comes out....
Study Of Human Pancreases Links Virus To Cause Of Type 1 Diabetes
A team of researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England, the University of Brighton and the Department of Pathology at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, has found that a common family of viruses (enteroviruses) may play an important role in triggering the development of diabetes, particularly in children. These viruses usually cause symptoms similar to the common cold, or vomiting and diarrhoea. However, the team has now provided clear evidence that they are also found frequently in the pancreas of people who develop diabetes.
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