Thyroid diseases are one of the most common endocrine diseases after diabetes in our country. Thyroid disorders, which are a hormonal disease caused by the over or under-functioning of the thyroid gland located in the anterior region of the neck, can lead to many symptoms and even more serious diseases that adversely affect the quality of life if left untreated. A study conducted by Turkish physicians on 350 patients revealed, for the first time in the world, that thyroid diseases play an important role in spinal aging or deterioration. Assoc. Dr. Murat Şakir Ekşi from Taksim First Aid Training and Research Hospital Brain and Nerve Surgery Clinic, Opr. Dr. Gürkan Berikol and Assoc. Dr. Ece Özcan Ekşi and Assoc. Dr. With the work carried out by Müjdat Kara, many habits in the diagnosis and treatment of low back pain will change.
“IF THERE IS A THYROID, THE SPINAL DESTROYMENT STARTS IN THE 40S”
From the team that carried out the research, Assoc. Dr. Murat Şakir Ekşi pointed out that spinal wear in people with thyroid disease occurs from the age of 40, and said, “Thyroid-induced spine damage usually occurs in the upper lumbar region. If timely measures are not taken, the person can go to surgery at an earlier age. It will be necessary to bring this into consideration and consider treatments for this together with internal medicine or endocrinology.” Assoc. Dr. Ekşi noted that thyroid disease, which is a very common disease in Turkey, is especially common in the Black Sea Region and is more evident in the 40s. “In thyroid dysfunction, metabolic diseases can become more common. We observed that our patients with thyroid disease have more spinal degeneration or aging than those without thyroid. Normally, spinal aging begins in the 60s, whereas in people with thyroid disease, it decreases to the age of 40. Another difference is that normally spinal aging is more common in the lower waist region. In thyroid patients, we found that this deterioration is more in the upper lumbar region and starts from there. In other words, there is a reverse mechanism.” said.
“WHEN DIAGNOSED THE THYROID, THE CONSEQUENTIAL LACK PAIN CAN ALSO BE TREATED”
“This study is the first in the world, we have already shown the effect of diabetes on spinal aging. We wanted to examine whether there is a similar interaction with other metabolic disorders based on that,” said Assoc. Dr. Ekşi continued his words as follows:
“Thyroid diseases are one of the most common diseases in Turkey after diabetes. Since we normally expect more degeneration in the lower part of lower back pain at earlier ages, we usually focus there. On the contrary, in these patients, there is deterioration in the upper lumbar region and daily diagnosis is difficult. They can be overlooked in our treatment practice. Another important thing is that early diagnosis and diagnosis of thyroid disease will prevent this process from stopping at an earlier age. Therefore, the solution of low back pain will become easier in these patients.”
“JUST MR AND EXAMINATION IS NOT ENOUGH”
Drawing attention to the fact that physical examination and MRI findings should not be satisfied with low back pain anymore, Assoc. Dr. Ekşi said, “At the same time, like an internist, we will have to look at whether they have additional diseases, whether they have any diseases that can trigger it, such as diabetes, thyroid, etc. We included approximately 350 patients in our study. These are patients who applied to the endocrine clinic for various reasons. We discussed those who were diagnosed with thyroid and those who did not, in two separate groups. There are 3 legs of the deterioration in the spine. One of them disrupts the disc. In other words, it is the deterioration of the cartilage between the spinal bones, which we call cartilage, which is later known as a herniated disc among the people. Deterioration occurs in the bone of the spine itself. The spinal bone, which is immediately adjacent to the cartilage and feeds the cartilage, deteriorates in itself. A third is deterioration in the muscles. When we stand up, the muscles that allow us to sit up accelerate the loss of their former strength, which we call lubrication. The thyroid accelerates this process.” he said.
“CHRONIC LACK PAIN IS THE FIRST IN THE WORLD”
Pointing out that chronic low back pain has ranked first among chronic pains in the world, especially after the Covid pandemic, Assoc. Dr. Murat Şakir Ekşi said, “What we call herniated disc, or what we call narrowing of the spine, doesn’t actually happen all at once. Yes, the pain may come suddenly, it occurs in a clinical moment, but the processes that trigger it, the mechanism in our body, occur over the years. If we catch these reasons from the beginning, I call it the snowball effect. If we can prevent the snowball before it turns into an avalanche, it will be the best preventive medicine. We will also be able to protect patients from advanced treatment methods, such as surgery, in the early period. Because they are diagnosed earlier, patients will recover earlier. Most importantly “Health expenditures and loss of workforce due to low back pain, which is the most common chronic disease in the world, will disappear. Since this study will be the first example in the world after it is published in the coming days, it will change many of the routines in the diagnosis and treatment of spinal disorders and screening protocols from now on.” he said. (DHA)