Scoliosis

[deb.h.]

I have two out of three children so far that have been diagnosed with scoliosis. It definitley runs in the family myself included andwondered if there is any link to this and Gluten intolerance. any thoughts?

[nettiebeads]

I have two out of three children so far that have been diagnosed with scoliosis. It definitley runs in the family myself included andwondered if there is any link to this and  Gluten intolerance. any thoughts?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think it is a different genetic problem, which of course could be aggravated by celiac disease - malabsorption reducing calcium to the body.

[Nantzie]

I have scoliosis and I have heard that it can be a symptom of celiac. I was doing a lot of research when I first found out about celiac a few weeks ago, so I can't remember the source. But I do remember that it was along the line of decreased bone density due to malnutrition. I know that osteoporosis can be caused by celiac for the same reason.

But there are reasons that you can have scoliosis that don't have anything to do with how strong your bones are, like legs being different lengths.

I was actually just looking something up, and you might want to look at this link from the National Institutes of Health.

Open Original Shared Link

They mention kyphoscholiosis, which I looked up. Kyphosis is the hunch-back type of spinal condition. Then scoliosis, of course. So kyphoscholiosis is the combination of the two; hunch-back plus scoliosis.

Nancy

[bluelotus]

I had heard at some point, that scoliosis develops in the womb (not sure how true this is, since they checked every year in elementary and didn't find mine until 8th grade). I think a lot of these disorders still need more research - too hard to isolate correlation from causation, but it is an interesting link to consider. I know that quite a few of us have this disorder as well. Mine happens to be in the thoracic spine and can cause major shoulder pain. Enjoyable, I assure you

[Nantzie]

Oh wow! In the womb?

I only had a scoliosis check one time, in the 8th grade, but they didn't find it. I'm pretty sure it's because it's as low in my lumbar spine as it could be. They didn't even find it until I was 33!!! I had back problems for years though. I just didn't think anything of it because they have whole stores dedicated to selling stuff for back pain. It was after my son was born and I just kept having back and hip pain to the point I could barely walk. Went and got it checked and Boom! Scoliosis.

Once the doctor pointed out how obviously crooked I was, I could totally see it. One hip was definitely higher than the other.

It explained so much. Whenever I bought shorts, I was always pulling the right side down because every pair of shorts I bought was longer on the left side for some reason. Bugged the heck out of me. I just couldn't figure out how EVERY single pair was like that. Stupid manufacturers...

Well, now I know. It wasn't crooked shorts. It was my crooked butt. LOL!!!

Doh!

Nancy

[deb.h.]

I just had to laugh about all the shorts being being too short i one leg. Whe i was in 11th or12th grade i remember looking at my closet and seeing all my pants hanging up on the hanging and saying to myself.

" why is that I am the only one who ends up getting every pair of defective pants with one leg shorter than the other. And THE SAME ONE TOO!!"

I didn;t knw that i had scoliosis then. I found out when I slipped a disc when i was eighteen. I have had chronic back pain and neck pain ever since.

my doctor didn't want to send my girls to phisio because he said that there was absolutely nothing he or anybody else could do about it. i told him to give me the refferral anyway. i do beleive that proper strectching and excercises can help and hopefully slow it down during their growing years. at least lengthen and strenghtne their backs. they are only 10 and 12 and haven't done the majority of their growing yet.

[tiredofdoctors]

You may want to take your kids to a physical therapist who specializes in manual physical therapy. It was my experience that frequently kids were diagnosed with scoliosis when in reality, it was their body's compensation for sacroiliac dysfunction -- the kids called it "crooked hips". I had one patient who was scheduled for surgery -- the MD didn't even look at her low back and at how uneven the tops of her hips were. We got the joints corrected, and the muscles surrounding them in balance (equally strong, equally flexible) -- remarkably, the scoliosis which was "most severe" reduced to a less than 5 degree curve. The MD didn't have an explanation for why the "remarkable recovery", but told the mom that physical therapy could not possibly have helped! To each his own. It's worth looking into, though. A lot of times it isn't necessarily celiac, but a "familial" disposition (they can't say genetic, because they haven't identified a gene that causes it) to ligamentous laxity. A well-skilled manual physical therapist will be able to explain this and show you on your children (and possibly yourself), if this is the case. Good luck to you.

[Guest nini]

My mom has severe scoliosis and because of that she started taking me and my sister to a chiropractor when we were pre teens... I still developed mild scoliosis but nothing like my mother's. I now work for a chiropractor and have seen first hand how chiropractic CAN improve scoliosis curvature. I don't think it can ever completely cure it, but if you start preventative care with children, you may be able to prevent it from getting worse. And once it's full blown scoliosis in an adult, chiropractic can really help to alleviate some of the pain.

[Bette]

Yep, I have scoliosis too. It was not diagnosed until my late twenties. I could never figure out , why all my shirts would slide more to one shoulder!! Mine is just mild, but I also have chronic upper back and shoulder pain, that the doctors say is from my fibromyalgia. Maybe there is a connection there.

Even though this is not the same thing, my Aunt had a baby born with spina bifida, and she only lived for about 6 months. I have read too, that this condition can be related to celiac and also affects the spine.

[Eliza13]

Hmm....Never heard of scoliosis being connected to celiac, but my cousin had it. My friends keep telling me that I have a hunch back....Is that sciliosis as well?

Skar.

[debmidge]

I read something over the last weekend that spina bifida (I think I read it in Dangerous Grains book) may be connected to celiac disease in that if the mother has celiac disease, and isn't eating gluten-free she may not be absorbing the proper amount of folic acid in her pregnancy diet which could lead to spina bifida in the unborn child.

My husband's oldest brother died of spina bifida at age 2 weeks in 1945; husband has celiac disease and believes his sister does too (she won't get tested & her doctor is a-hole who feels that she doesn't have the symptoms so she can't have celiac disease - yes, one of those A-holes you can't talk to). Anyway, his mother doesn't appear to have symptoms either....his father passed away several years ago and may have had undiagnosed celiac disease; we're aren't sure so far.

[judy05]

I read something over the last weekend that spina bifida (I think I read it in Dangerous Grains book) may be connected to celiac disease in that if the mother has celiac disease, and isn't eating gluten-free she may not be absorbing the proper amount of folic acid in her pregnancy diet which could lead to spina bifida in the unborn child.

My husband's oldest brother died of spina bifida at age 2 weeks in 1945;  husband has celiac disease and believes his sister does too (she won't get tested & her doctor is a-hole who feels that she doesn't have the symptoms so she can't have celiac disease - yes, one of those A-holes you can't talk to).  Anyway, his mother doesn't appear to have symptoms either....his father passed away several years ago and may have had undiagnosed celiac disease; we're aren't sure so far.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't have spina bifida but I remember reading on an x-ray a long time ago that I had a "spina bifida defect". I also have scoliosis. This is very interesting, I would like to read more about it.

[Bette]

My husband's oldest brother died of spina bifida at age 2 weeks in 1945; husband has celiac disease and believes his sister does too (she won't get tested & her doctor is a-hole who feels that she doesn't have the symptoms so she can't have celiac disease - yes, one of those A-holes you can't talk to). Anyway, his mother doesn't appear to have symptoms either....his father passed away several years ago and may have had undiagnosed celiac disease; we're aren't sure so far.

Yeah I can relate... The only person who took my daughter's and my diagnoses seriously was my brother. My mother and her sister (the one who lost a baby to spina bifida) will not even acknowledge it. My brother got tested right away when I told him, because in the past few years, his health has been steadily declining, gall bladder removal, gerds, diabetes, severe peripheral neuropathies. I am not sure what test the doctor ordered, but I do know there was no biopsy or that he might not of even gotten the full antibody panel!!Anyways the doctor told him he does not have Celiac disease, (the same doctor who misdiagnosed and missed his diabetes for a couple of years, until he had so much nerve damage in his legs he can barely walk now) arrgh its so frustrating because when you finally do get a family members attention, then you have to deal with incompetent doctors!!!

I don't have spina bifida but I remember reading on an x-ray a long time ago that I had a "spina bifida defect". I also have scoliosis. This is very interesting, I would like to read more about it.

I am not sure what they mean by "spina bifida defect", but in my case the scoliosis is not my only defect. I also have cervical stenosis, this is where the vertebrae actually narrow and can compress the spinal cord. Plus I also have on my lower spine something called :"Tarvlo Cyst" another radiologist termed it as Acharonoiditis (not sure about spelling . Now the cervical stenosis may have been from a car accident causing whiplash more that twenty years ago. But the other abnormalities are congenital. How many of us out there have other spinal problems?

[tiredofdoctors]

Spina Bifida is a congenital defect which is caused by lack of Folic Acid prior to and during pregnancy. With the significant absorption difficulties celiac disease imposes, it makes sense that celiacs are at more risk of producing offspring with the defect.

[bethanyschoeff]

I believe there is absolutely a link. I had spinal rodding and fusion for scoliosis in 1992. I didn't find out that I had celiac disease (I haven't had the bioptsy just a blood allergy test...but I know I have it) until 2 years ago. I've read up a bit on celiac and the 1960's merck medical journal states that celiac can cause bowed bones. I don't believe my celiac kicked in until the age of 10...when my scoliosis started showing up (7 degrees at 1st). I had all the symptoms at the age of 10. I was thin, pale and would get nauseas after eating. I have met 2 other people with celiac who had the exact experience. They (the doctors) didn't even mention this as a possibility. I had a blood allergy test 2 years ago that showed my gluten allergy. Amongst many other allergies. My acid reflux is cured because I found out I was allergic to milk, eggs, and beef. Also my "IBS". Which is all a joke anyways. "IBS" is just something doctors made up...because they don't have the time or energy to find out why you have it to begin with. I feel like a different person now. I think that if I had known about these problems as a child that I could have stopped the progression of my scoliosis. I had galloping idiopathic scoiliosis. It was at 57 degrees when they did the surgery. The month before that it was 47 degrees. My doctor had never seen scoliosis moving so fast. I was born completely healthy...no scoliosis at all! In 5th grade I was totally fine too. 6th grade is when they found it. Get your kids a blood allergy test. They are farely new (8yrs approx) They test your stool, blood, and saliva to see how things really react in your body. You might need a more progressive doctor. Many doctors are paid off by drug companies to push their products rather than care about the real root of the problem. My father has the same allergies that I have..but he had a different kind of back problem. Allergies...I believe are the culpret for many health problems. We just have to care enough to find out the truth ourselves. -Bethany

[terri]

I just had a bone density test and was informed I have scoliosis! My latest yoga teacher noticed it right off the bat too. Interesting that I can go over 50 years never knowing that I have it then suddenly within a month two people point it out to me! A connection to Celiac? Who knows? "They" say a high forehead is a connection too! I keep finding I have most of the connections posted on the board. Could just be coincidence though....

[Lagomom]

Scoliosis runs in my family, too. I have it, slightly. One son with short leg. My sister had a Dwyer fusion (2 of them)after spending her teen years in a Milwaukee brace. That was rough.

The gene comes from my mom, who is 100% German, no celiac. My dad carries the celiac and HH genes( Irish/Cherokee). This wouldn't support the celiac disease/Scoliosis connection for my family, anyway.

Libby.

[Guest Viola]

I'm another one with scoliosis. Perhaps someone who knows how to do it should post a poll on how many of us have it.

[taweavmo3]

I have a mild case of it, and haven't done anything about it. My other two sisters have it as well, but not severe enough for a brace. My mom and her mother also have it, and both also have a severe hunch back. No confirmed dx of celiac in any of us though, just my daughter so far. I've been gluten-free for three months now though, and feel great. This is a really interesting thread....

[jerseyangel]

I also have a mild curvature that was found by accident 10 years ago on a back X-ray. It has never caused me any problems. I actually haven't even thought about it until I read this thread!

[skbird]

I had heard at some point, that scoliosis develops in the womb (not sure how true this is, since they checked every year in elementary and didn't find mine until 8th grade).  I think a lot of these disorders still need more research - too hard to isolate correlation from causation, but it is an interesting link to consider.  I know that quite a few of us have this disorder as well.  Mine happens to be in the thoracic spine and can cause major shoulder pain.  Enjoyable, I assure you 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey Bluelotus - what kind of shoulder pain does this cause you? I am 34 and just found out I have minor scoliosis this last year. I found out because I had x-rays done for back pain - I have bad disks in the low back and I also have recurrent shoulder pain in my right shoulder, near the top, between my neck and arm. I have had liver pain, but that is usually lower. This seemed to start a year ago and keeps going in and out. At it's worst, I also have pain on my lower left rib cage (sort of following the opposite of the curve in my spine.) I'm wondering if it has something to do with my spine curvature or if it's just yet another random thing.

In fact, one of my docs thinks I have fibromyalgia. Oh boy...

Stephanie