Women with low levels of sexual desire, often as a result of menopause, are more likely to be depressed and to suffer physical symptoms such as back pain and memory problems than women who report higher levels of desire, according to a new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals.

Back pain affects more than 80 percent of people and costs more than $100 billion annually in the U.S. But is the surgery cost effective? A study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center suggests that for patients with spinal stenosis, a laminectomy, or surgical removal of some soft bone and tissue, is a reasonable value.

Contrary to current guidelines and common belief, new research published in The British Medical Journal has shown that recovery from low back pain is much slower than previously thought and even slower again for those with a compensable injury.

It is well-known that back pain belongs to the most frequent health problems in the industrial nations and, it is also well-known that it is the cause of considerable costs for health insurance schemes and the economy.

A traditional, “open” surgical spine procedure typically involves the surgeon making a long incision, from either an anterior or posterior approach, dissecting and retracting layers of tissue as needed to provide both visualization and access to the affected area. For many kinds of operations-instrumented spinal fusion the most notable-open procedures remain the norm due to the demands of positioning, attaching, and configuring fixation devices.

New research to be carried out at The University of Nottingham could have a major impact on the way that people struggling with low back pain are helped to stay in work.

It became much more expansive to treat back pain in the United States then before. In the past decade the total cost of for an aching back has increased 65 percent.

Neck pain has been steadily increasing over the past two decades and is now second to back pain, the most common musculoskeletal disorder.

Australians spend more than $1 billion per year trying to treat lower back pain. But now a study has found that expensive therapies may not be the best treatments.

There is strong evidence that using insoles does not prevent people from getting non-specific back pain, and there is insufficient evidence to say whether or not they help solve existing low-back pain, a Cochrane Systematic Review has found.

There is an interesting study out that says acupuncture treatment appears to be more effective than conventional therapy in treating lower back pain. And it may be more effective than conventional treatment even if the acupuncture is done incorrectly. That is the puzzling part.

ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill - Scoliosis is an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine. It is most often diagnosed in childhood or early adolescence, but can also be diagnosed in adults. The spine's normal curves occur at the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions in the so-called “sagittal” plane. These natural curves position the head over the pelvis and work as shock absorbers to distribute mechanical stress during movement.