essay on scoliosis
What is scoliosis? What causes scoliosis?
The word scoliosis comes from a Greek word meaning crooked. A person with a normal spine is viewed from the front or back; the spine appears to be straight. When a person with scoliosis is viewed from the front or back, the spine appears to be curved.
2 to 3 % of Americans at age 16 have scoliosis. Girls are more likely to be affected than boys. About 3 out of every 100 people have some form of scoliosis, though for many people it's not much of a problem. For a small number of people, the curve gets worse as they grow and they may need a brace or an operation to correct it. No one knows what causes the most common type of scoliosis called Idiopathic; Idiopathic is a fancy word for unknown cause. Doctors do know that scoliosis can run in families. So if a parent, sister, or brother had scoliosis, you might have it, too.
Scoliosis is described based on the age when scoliosis develops. If the person is less than 3 years old, it is called infantile idiopathic scoliosis. Scoliosis that develops between 3 and 10 years of age is called juvenile idiopathic scoliosis, and people that are over 10 years old have adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. More than 80% of people with scoliosis have idiopathic scoliosis, and the majority of those are adolescent girls. Functional - this type of scoliosis, the spine is normal, but an abnormal curve develops because of a problem somewhere else in the body. This could be caused by one leg being shorter than the other or by muscle spasms in the back. Neuromuscular - this type of scoliosis, there is a problem when the bones of the spine are formed. Either the bones of the spine fail to form completely or they fail to
Separate from each other during fetal development. This develops in people with disorders, such as birth defects, muscular dystrophy, or cerebral palsy. People with these conditions often develop a long C-shaped curve and have weak muscles that are unable to hold them up straight.
The word scoliosis comes from a Greek word meaning crooked. A person with a normal spine is viewed from the front or back; the spine appears to be straight. When a person with scoliosis is viewed from the front or back, the spine appears to be curved.
2 to 3 % of Americans at age 16 have scoliosis. Girls are more likely to be affected than boys. About 3 out of every 100 people have some form of scoliosis, though for many people it's not much of a problem. For a small number of people, the curve gets worse as they grow and they may need a brace or an operation to correct it. No one knows what causes the most common type of scoliosis called Idiopathic; Idiopathic is a fancy word for unknown cause. Doctors do know that scoliosis can run in families. So if a parent, sister, or brother had scoliosis, you might have it, too.
Scoliosis is described based on the age when scoliosis develops. If the person is less than 3 years old, it is called infantile idiopathic scoliosis. Scoliosis that develops between 3 and 10 years of age is called juvenile idiopathic scoliosis, and people that are over 10 years old have adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. More than 80% of people with scoliosis have idiopathic scoliosis, and the majority of those are adolescent girls. Functional - this type of scoliosis, the spine is normal, but an abnormal curve develops because of a problem somewhere else in the body. This could be caused by one leg being shorter than the other or by muscle spasms in the back. Neuromuscular - this type of scoliosis, there is a problem when the bones of the spine are formed. Either the bones of the spine fail to form completely or they fail to
Separate from each other during fetal development. This develops in people with disorders, such as birth defects, muscular dystrophy, or cerebral palsy. People with these conditions often develop a long C-shaped curve and have weak muscles that are unable to hold them up straight.