THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEGENERATIVE CHANGES AND OSTEOPOROSIS IN THELUMBAR SPINE

Degenerative changes in the spine, specifically disc degeneration and facet arthrosis, and osteoporosis are conditions that primarily affect the elderly and may significantly impact the quality of life, The rel ationship between osteoporosis and degenerative changes in the hip joi nt has been studied, but their correlation in the spine is not entirel y clear, Two hundred ninety-four subjects older than 50 years of age w ere retrospectively studied for the existence of lumbar spinal degener ation and osteoporosis through radiologic examination for 3 clinical m anifestations: (1) disc degeneration, (2) facet joint arthrosis, and ( 3) lumbar osteoporosis, Peripheral osteoporosis in the distal radius o f the nondominant hand was measured using a single-photon bone absorpt iometer, Results indicated that subjects with severe osteoporosis in t he distal radius also had severe degenerative changes in the discs and the facets; those with mild osteoporosis in the distal radius showed a tendency to have a lesser degree of degenerative changes than the su bjects without osteoporosis.