Population-based Risk Factors for the Development of Degenerative Disk Disease
Theodore Steelman1, Louis Lewandowski2, Melvin Helgeson1
1Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Bethesda, MD.
Clinical Spine Surgery
|July 10, 2018
Summary
Obesity, diabetes, and tobacco use are significant risk factors for degenerative disk disease (DDD). Military duty assignments did not show a significant association with DDD development.
Area of Science:
- Orthopedics
- Epidemiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Degenerative disk disease (DDD) causes significant disability in military and civilian populations.
- The multifactorial etiology of DDD remains incompletely understood.
- Low back pain associated with DDD has a substantial impact.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify risk factors for degenerative disk disease (DDD) in a military population.
- To assess the relative impact of identified risk factors on DDD development.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective case-control study using the Defense Medical Surveillance System.
- 160,911 patients with DDD compared to 315,225 age- and sex-matched controls.
- Multivariate conditional logistic regression analyzed risk factors including obesity, osteoarthritis, tobacco dependence, and diabetes.
Main Results:
- Diabetes (OR 1.469), hip/knee osteoarthritis (OR 2.925), and tobacco dependence (OR 1.799) were significantly associated with DDD.
- Obesity (OR 1.556) and overweight (OR 1.334) also showed increased odds of DDD.
- No significant association found between military duty assignments and DDD.
Conclusions:
- Hip/knee osteoarthritis, obesity, diabetes, and tobacco dependence are significant risk factors for DDD.
- Military duty assignment was not found to be a significant risk factor for DDD.
- Further research into the multifactorial causes of DDD is warranted.
Related Concept Videos
01:26Factors Affecting the Risk of Infection
13.7K
The hosts' susceptibility to infection depends on several factors. The integrity of the skin and mucous membranes helps protect the body against microbial attacks. When the skin is altered, the chance of infection, limb loss, and even death increases.
The integrity and count of the white blood cells help the body resist pathogens and fight infection. When impaired, it reduces the body's resistance to pathogens. The acidic pH levels of the gastrointestinal, genitourinary tracts, and skin...
The integrity and count of the white blood cells help the body resist pathogens and fight infection. When impaired, it reduces the body's resistance to pathogens. The acidic pH levels of the gastrointestinal, genitourinary tracts, and skin...
13.7K
02:04Conservation of Small Populations
17.4K
Small population sizes put a species at extreme risk of extinction due to a lack of variation, and a consequent decrease in adaptability. This weakens the chances of survival under pressures such as climate change, competition from other species, or new diseases. Large populations are more likely to survive pressures such as these, as such populations are more likely to harbor individuals that have genetic variants that are adaptive under new stresses. Small populations are much less...
17.4K
00:57Population Growth
28.7K
Population size is dynamic, increasing with birth rates and immigration, and decreasing with death rates and emigration. In ideal conditions with unlimited resources, populations can increase exponentially, which plots as a J-shaped growth rate curve of population size against time. This type of curve is characteristic of newly-introduced invasive species, or populations that have suffered catastrophic declines and are rebounding.
28.7K
01:23Faraday Disk Dynamo
3.7K
A Faraday disk dynamo is a DC generator, producing an emf that is constant in time. It consists of a conducting disk that rotates with a constant angular velocity in the magnetic field, perpendicular to the disk's plane. The rotation of the disk causes a change in magnetic flux, which induces an emf, causing opposite charges to develop on the rim and in the center of the disk. The polarity of the induced emf can be determined by the direction of the magnetic field and the direction of the...
3.7K
01:25Factors Influencing Drug Absorption: Disease States and Pharmacology
1.4K
Multiple disease states can significantly influence the oral drug absorption process by affecting blood flow and the functionality of the gastrointestinal (GI) system. Various GI diseases, including conditions that alter GI motility, such as diarrhea, decreased acid secretions (achlorhydria), and infections, have been associated with reduced drug absorption.
Substances such as alcohol and specific drugs, including antineoplastics, can also negatively impact drug absorption. For instance,...
Substances such as alcohol and specific drugs, including antineoplastics, can also negatively impact drug absorption. For instance,...
1.4K
01:22Pathophysiology of Peptic Ulcer Disease: Injurious Factors
1.2K
Peptic ulcers are sores on the stomach's inner lining and the upper small intestine, which are the result of disruptions in the mucosal layer that houses parietal cells which produce gastric acid, and chief cells which secrete pepsinogen.
In the antrum region, G cells secrete the gastrin hormone that binds to gastrin-cholecystokinin-B (CCK2) receptors on parietal and enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells in the fundic glands. Simultaneously, the vagus nerve releases acetylcholine, which binds...
In the antrum region, G cells secrete the gastrin hormone that binds to gastrin-cholecystokinin-B (CCK2) receptors on parietal and enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells in the fundic glands. Simultaneously, the vagus nerve releases acetylcholine, which binds...
1.2K