The Scoliosis reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Scoliosis

Scoliosis is a disease that is incurable but can be treated. It often affects children between the ages of seven and ten.

Table of contents

1 Characteristics 2 Victims 3 Symptoms 4 Treatment

Characteristics

• Lateral curvature of the spine.

Victims

• Scoliosis affects 2-3% of the population. In one out of every 1000 cases, surgery may be necessary.
• 85% of Scoliosis cases have unknown causes or are idiopathic.
• Scoliosis appears genetic and affects more girls than boys.
• Females are 8 times more likely to require treatment than boys.

Symptoms

• prominent shoulder blade
• uneven hip and shoulder levels
• unequal distance between arms and body
• clothes that do not "hang right."
• muscle mass that causes a "hump" on one side of the spine.

shoulders that have a lack of spine reinforcment can hurt if large amounts of weight are placed upon it. 

Treatment

• Spinal curvature is best dealt with when a young person's body is still growing and can respond to treatments, such as a body brace. Mild cases may not need treatment, but must be monitored.
• A now defunct surgery to install a Harrington Implant was performed for a short time. This process consisted of screwing the 1.5-foot-long implant to two points on the spine: the base and the area between the shoulders. Bone was also sometimes fused in between the vertebrae to further restrict bending of the spine. Since the Harrington Implant was often present in a patient's body for his or her entire lifetime, the spine was slowly forced to be straight. This surgery has been performed on only a few hundred people, due to the high risk of paralysis.
• Spinal fusion is now the most widely performed surgery for scoliosis. This is when, as described above, bone from elsewhere in the body is fused in between the vertebrae to restrict spinal movement.

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