DUKE RESEARCHERS STUDYING NEW TREATMENT FOR HERNIATED DISCS

Low back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek medical care, and both degenerative and herniated discs - also referred to as slipped discs or ruptured discs - are common causes of that pain. Herniated discs occur when the tough outer layer of cartilage cracks, allowing pieces of the softer inner material to protrude into the spinal canal. When a disc is injured or degenerates, the body reacts against the invading inner material as it would against any virus or foreign body, and launches a response targeted at destruction. The nerve root, which is present near the protruding disc material, becomes painfully inflamed, swollen and damaged during that cascade of events. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center believe they have found a new way to treat a disc herniation.

According to the doctors at Duke University Medical Center, an immune cell known to cause chronic inflammation in autoimmune disorders has been identified as a possible culprit in low back pain associated with herniated discs. According to reports, the finding implicates the cytokine molecule interleukin-17, and supports the burgeoning theory that an immune response plays a significant role in disc disease, says William J. Richardson, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Duke. It may also open the door for new, therapeutic approaches that target a specific immune response in hopes of halting disc destruction, and possibly reversing the disease process.

"Mechanical forces may initiate the degenerative process, but biochemical inflammatory changes certainly play a role in disc pathology," says the study's first author, Mohammed Shamji, MD, PhD, senior neurosurgery resident at The Ottawa Hospital, Ontario, Canada, who participated in the research while at Duke. Decreasing the inflammation may arrest or reverse the patient's disease process and perhaps reduce the need for surgery. "Now we are learning which pathways we have to block."

Despite their findings, researchers say they're still several steps away from human studies of IL-17 blockers currently in development. So, in the meantime, continue to treat with your doctor for you disc herniation or low back pain. You don't have to suffer--there are many forms of treatment available. Talk to your chiropractor, orthopedist and/or neurologist to find out which treatment plan is best for you.

If you herniated disc is the result of someone's negligence resulting in a car accident, motorcycle crash, or slip and fall or if your disc herniation is a result of a Florida workers' compensation claim, contact Personal Injury Attorney Matthew Noyes for a free case consultation. Attorney Noyes' Tampa Bay personal injury law firm--Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes--is one of the oldest personal injury law firms in Clearwater and Tampa Bay. Get legal answers today!