| What causes scoliosis? | 2007.00000000000 | What causes scoliosis? | What causes scoliosis? | W | English | Orthopaedics/Musculoskeletal | Child (0-12 years);Teen (13-18 years) | Vertebrae;Spine | Muscular system;Skeletal system | Conditions and diseases | Adult (19+) | NA | | 2008-06-01T04:00:00Z | | Sandra Donaldson, BA;Reinhard Zeller, MD, ScD, FRCSC | | | | 8.00000000000000 | 55.0000000000000 | 557.000000000000 | | Flat Content | Health A-Z | <p>Read about some of the implicated causes of scoliosis, including genetics, growth issues, and problems with connective tissue or the nervous system.</p> | <p>Most teens with scoliosis have idiopathic scoliosis. The word idiopathic means <em>of unknown cause</em>. Researchers don’t know what causes idiopathic scoliosis. Genetics might be one cause. There are many other theories. It is not known if these factors cause the scoliosis or are the result of scoliosis. Most researchers agree that more than one factor causes scoliosis.</p>
<p>Here are what some researchers think could cause scoliosis.</p> | | <h2> Key points </h2>
<ul><li> Scoliosis in most teens is idiopathic.</li>
<li>Most researchers agree that multiple factors could cause scoliosis, including genetics, rapid growth, defects in connective tissue, problems with the nervous system, and low melatonin levels.</li>
<li>Researchers have not determined if these factors cause scoliosis or are the result of scoliosis.</li></ul> | <h2>Genetics</h2><p>Scoliosis tends to run in families. In one study, about one in 10 people with scoliosis had a ‘first-degree relative’ with scoliosis. A first-degree relative is a parent, sibling, or child. In the same study, about two in 100 people with scoliosis had a ‘second-degree relative’ with scoliosis. A second-degree relative is a grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, or half sibling.</p><h2>Growth issues</h2><p>Scoliosis gets worse during puberty when teenagers are rapidly growing. Scoliosis patients are generally taller than normal during early puberty, around ages eight to nine. Once patients hit age 10 and up, their height is about the same as everyone else their age.</p><p>Scoliosis patients also have higher levels of growth hormone when they are seven to 12 years of age. After age 12, they have the same levels of growth hormone as other children their age. </p><p>Many children grow rapidly but don’t end up with scoliosis. This supports the idea that more than one factor may cause scoliosis.</p><h3>Problems with connective tissue and muscle</h3><p>Some researchers think that defects in our connective tissue may cause scoliosis. Examples of connective tissue are our ligaments (tissue that connects bone to bone) and the disks in our spinal column. Other researchers think these changes in connective tissue are caused by scoliosis. </p><p>Researchers have done studies on the muscles that run along the spinal column. They have found some abnormalities in these muscles in scoliosis patients. However, they cannot confirm if they are the cause of scoliosis or a result of the scoliosis.</p><h2>Problems with the nervous system</h2><p>Proprioception is the way we maintain our posture. We use receptors in our joints and muscles to do this. Some researchers think that loss of proprioception may lead to muscle weakness on one side of our body. That, in turn, could lead to scoliosis. </p><p>The vestibular system is our sense of balance. The ducts in the inner ear control our sense of balance. One study showed that patients with scoliosis have problems with their vestibular balance. </p><p>Again, it is not known whether these abnormalities are the cause of scoliosis or the result of it.</p><h2>Melatonin levels</h2><p>Melatonin is a hormone secreted by a gland in the brain. It regulates our 24-hour body clock, called our circadian rhythm. This 24-hour body clock tells us to do various things at specific times of the day, like sleeping at night when it’s dark. </p><p>Melatonin has an opposite relationship with the growth hormone. When growth hormone is at high levels, melatonin is at a low level. Researchers think that if patients with scoliosis have higher than normal growth hormone levels, maybe they have lower than normal melatonin levels </p><p>A few studies have shown that scoliosis patients have lower melatonin levels over a 24-hour period. However, researchers think this has more to do with curves that accelerate quickly than with the cause of scoliosis. </p><p>Many surgical studies in animals suggest that melatonin may play a role in scoliosis development. Keep in mind that animal studies are a long way from studies done on humans.</p> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | What causes scoliosis? | | | | |
