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From: Joe.Chamberlain@f140.n150.z1.fidonet.org (Joe Chamberlain)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Spasms
Message-ID: <18941@bunker.isc-br.com>
Date: 23 Apr 91 20:32:19 GMT
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[This is from the Spinal Injury Conference]

 AH> In a message of <Apr 09 06:08> Bob Howard @ 995/18 (1:10/8@fidonet)
 AH> writes to Alan Hess:

 BH>> Can scoliosis be induced by use of steroids? Especially in
 BH>> puberty age children? My deepest sympathy for your pains with
 BH>> this disease. My only suggestion is deep and frequent prayers.

 AH> I have no idea.  Besides, I never took steroids as a child. *adh*

        It will be nearly impossible to prove that the scoliosis
was caused by steroids.  There is tons of literture stating that
children of purberty age are prime candidates for this problem.

        To quote

INCIDENCE OF SCOLIOSIS

      Scoliosis occurs in 1 - 4% of adults, and can be identified in up to
4% of children during the rapid growth years.

      Rapid Growth Years are critical, because it is in this period that
abnormal curvatures can progress rapidly to the point of requiring advanced
treatment, where earlier diagnosis and correctional treatment might have
been sufficient otherwise.

      About 4% of all children, ages 10 to 14 will show some variation from
normal spinal alignment, and about half of those (2%) will need either
treatment or close medical observation.

      Adults with wasting or degenerative conditions may have to be
considered
more at risk than others for scoliosis (or kyphosis), and should be
screened a
little more carefully.  Persons with osteoporosis or osteomalacia, for
example, might be considered for special screening.

During Rapid Growth Years,
BOYS and GIRLS
show about equal incidence
of significant variations of spinal alignment,
but the girls are eight times more likely
to develop serious problems related to
scoliosis.

ETIOLOGY OF SCOLIOSIS

     Scoliosis is not at all a well-understood clinical entity.  Some 85%
of
cases have no attributable causative factors, and so are described in the
literature as "idiopathic" -- in other words, the person's got it, and we
don't know how.
     Idiopathic scoliosis most often develops during the growth years,
and it is rare for it to develop de novo in mature adults.

     Some authors identify hereditary factors in up to 20% of cases,
but the influences and mechanisms of those factors are also unknown.

     Congenital scoliosis may be a definable entity, based on the way the
vertebrae develop before birth, in a particular individual.

     Adult onset scoliosis usually develops in persons over the age of 50,
and is most often related to such bone diseases as osteoporosis (porous or
thinning bone) or osteomalacia (bone softening).  It can also be related to
degenerative arthritis (based on "wear and tear").

     Other suggested causative factors of scoliosis are: muscle and nerve
diseases, spinal column trauma, after-effects of radiation treatment of
spinal tumors, bone infections, neurofibromatosis, and metabolic disorders.

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