Predicting Frailty & A 30-Year Study On Disc Degeneration

The Chiropractic Forward Podcast: Evidence-based Chiropractic Advocacy

CF 184: Predicting Frailty & A 30-Year Study On Disc Degeneration Today we’re going to talk about using bone or musculoskeletal parameters to predict frailty and then we’ll cover a 30-year study on disc degeneration. Sit tight and chew on the morsels of knowledge we’re about to dish up for you. But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music

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OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are making evidence-based chiropractic fun, profitable, and accessible while we make you and your patients better all the way around.

We’re the fun kind of research. We’re the Metallica of chiropractic research……if there is such a thing.

Not the stuffy, high-brow kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers.

I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast.

If you haven’t yet I have a few things you should do.

• Like our Facebook page,
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You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #1844

Now if you missed last week’s episode , we talked about the factors leading to surgery for some discs and then we talked about recent information concerning disc innervation and what happens when a disc is injured.

Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class.

On the personal end of things…..

So for personal happening this week, we are getting the training set up for a nurse practitioner down in Dallas. Our medical Director is good enough that he would like to be trained on what the nurse practitioner is doing as well. That means good things for us.

When the medical Director is on board with the nurse practitioner, nothing but good happens.

I’m still promoting and pushing my book. The one I’d love for you to purchase called “‘The Remarkable Truth About Chiropractic: A Unique Journey Into The Research’. It’s on Amazon and you can find the link on my homepage at chiropractscforward.com so go give it a look-see and a purchase. You can get it in paperback and as an ebook.

This is an amazing resource for you practitioners in the field. Definitely for you content creators. Whether you’re looking for info to post on your social media, whether you’re teaching your patients and need material, or it you’re putting together a speech you need to give to a group……THIS is your resource to make your life easier and to save time. Seriously. Just flip to the topic and pick out the papers you like. BOOM….done.

I noticed that the forward thinking chiropractic alliance had their fire event this past weekend. With all of the things I’m involved in, I was unable to attend either live or online.

But, I purchased the online package so will be reviewing it when it is available online. It was all about implementing rehab into your practice and making money doing it. I love rehab and exercise being a part of my every day practice so I’m looking forward to waiting through all of the information. I am still trudging through the forensics fellowship and I have to say, it is not material that I enjoy. In fact, it’s pretty awful.

But, with the forensics fellowship being a subsidiary of the orthopedics fellowship that I already went through, I only have to do 100 hours rather than 300 so there’s no reason to not do it. So, I am begrudgingly going through it. It feels like I would assume running through quicksand feels. I hate the material but I plan on enjoying The final results.

Also, as part of the Parker CBI program, I have an intern coming on board. He’s going to move out to Amarillo for a semester and follow us around and work in the office starting in September.

Throw that in on top of a nurse practitioner starting full-time with us on August 2, and I should have my hands full. This podcast is getting more and more challenging to write produce and record every week. Depending on how all of this goes in the fall, I may be forced to begin releasing an episode every two weeks rather than every week. Stay tuned. That decision is on the horizon.

Other than all of that, I am involved in all of my extracurricular activities as well.

I am still going to the track and throw in the shot put and discus on the weekends and planning on competing in some masters events next spring and summer. Still trying to lose weight and stay involved in working out and being in the healthy lifestyle. And I’m still busy doing all of my artwork that I’ve been doing all along.

If you’re interested in any of that you can find it on Facebook at Jeff Williams art. If I was that weren’t enough, I’m busy putting together a new band and music projectWell my voiceover career is also expanding and growing and growing a little bit crazy at the moment. You could say my cup runneth over exponentially.

For that reason, let’s get on with the research.

Item #1

The first one is called “Disc Degeneration of Young Low Back Pain Patients: A Prospective 30-year Follow-up MRI Study” by Saaksjarvi et al. (Sääksjärvi S 2020) and published in Spine Journal in October of 2020 which is cooling off but still pretty damn steamy. Hot enough to eat.

Why They Did It

The aim of this study was to investigate whether early lumbar disc degeneration (DD) in young low back pain (LBP) patients predicts progression of degenerative changes, pain, or disability in a 30-year follow-up

How They Did It

• A prospective follow-up study.
• In an earlier study, 75 conscripts aged 20 years with LBP had their lumbar spine examined by MRI.
• At a follow-up of 30 years, the subjects were contacted;
• 35 of 69 filled a pain and disability questionnaire,
• and 26 of 35 were also reexamined clinically and by MRI.
• The images were evaluated for decreased signal intensity and other degenerative changes.
• Association between decreased signal intensity of a disc at baseline and the presence of more severe degenerative changes in the same disc space at follow-up was analyzed using Fisher exact test.
• Association between decreased baseline signal intensity and pain/disability scores from the questionnaire was analyzed with Kruskal-Wallis H test.

What They Found

• The total number of lumbar discs with decreased signal intensity increased from 23 of 130 to 92 of 130
• Distribution of DD changed from being mostly in L4-L5 and L5-S1 discs to being almost even between the four lowermost discs. Discs that had even slightly decreased signal intensity at baseline were more likely to have severely decreased signal intensity at follow-up, compared to healthy discs.
• Other degenerative changes were also more common in these discs.
• Severity of DD at baseline did not have a significant association with current pain or disability.

Wrap It Up

In young LBP patients, early degeneration in lumbar discs predicts progressive degenerative changes in the respective discs, but not pain, disability, or clinical symptoms.

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Item #2

Our last one today is called “The Predictability of Frailty Associated with Musculoskeletal Deficits: A Longitudinal Study” by Tembo et. al. (Tembo 2021) and published in Calcified Tissue International in 2021….ouch….don’t touch it…..it sizzles.

And honestly….who the hell knew there was an entire damn journal called calcified tissue international?? How damn niche can you get?? For reals. And don’t tell me it’s pronounced nish because I’m just going to kick you in the shin if we meet in person. I’m going with niche because there are riches in niches. Not in nishes so don’t do it.

Why They Did It

How They Did It

• This longitudinal study included 287 men aged ≥ 50 yr at baseline (2001–2006) from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study
• Baseline musculoskeletal measures included femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD), appendicular lean mass index (ALMI, kg/m2) and whole-body fat mass index (FMI, kg/m2) and lower-limb strength
• Frailty at the 15 yr-follow-up (2016–2019) was defined as ≥ 3 and non-frail as < 3, of the following: unintentional weight loss, weakness, low physical activity, exhaustion, and slowness
• Potential confounders included anthropometry, smoking, alcohol, FMI, socioeconomic status and comorbidities

What They Found

• Forty-eight (16.7%) men were frail at 15 yr-follow-up.
• Musculoskeletal models were better predictors of frailty
• Musculoskeletal parameters improved the predictability model for frailty after 15 years

Wrap It Up

In general, muscle models performed better compared to bone models. Musculoskeletal parameters improved the predictability of frailty of the referent model that included lifestyle factors. Muscle deficits accounted for a greater proportion of the risk for frailty than did bone deficits. Targeting musculoskeletal health could be a possible avenue of intervention in regards to frailty.

And now you know…..the rest of the story….

Alright, that’s it. Y’all be safe. Keep changing our profession from your little corner of the world. Keep taking care of yourselves and everyone around you. Tough times are upon us but, the sun will shine again. Trust it, believe it, count on it.

Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week.

Store

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The Message

I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots. When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few. It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient. And, if the patient treats preventatively after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health!

Key Point: At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints…. That’s Chiropractic!

Contact Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes. Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms. We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference.

Connect We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward.

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About the Author & Host

Dr. Jeff Williams – Fellow of the International Academy of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine – Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger

Bibliography

Sääksjärvi S, K. L., Luoma K, Paajanen H, Waris E, (2020). “Disc Degeneration of Young Low Back Pain Patients: A Prospective 30-year Follow-up MRI Study.” Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 45(19): 1341-1347.

Tembo, M. C., Mohebbi, M., Holloway-Kew, K.L, (2021). “The Predictability of Frailty Associated with Musculoskeletal Deficits: A Longitudinal Study.” Calcified Tissue Int.

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