Mounting evidence points to fibromyalgia as a heritable disorder. This evidence includes familial aggregation of fibromyalgia as well as a reduced pain threshold in the first-degree female relatives of fibromyalgia patients, even in those without overt clinical symptoms. Gene polymorphisms in the serotonergic dopaminergic neurons systems and a higher prevalence of polymorphisms in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5HTT) in fibromyalgia patients as compared to healthy controls also have been identified. (more…)

My job is to plan for catastrophe, yet Jane’s story was an echo of my own. My mother, a fiercely seniors independent and proud woman, worked until she was 86 years old; but after she was forced into a senior nursing home care at age 93, she died within weeks. Ethel enjoyed a long life. Its end was certainly not a direct result of the loss of independence and personal dignity she experienced in the nursing home. But if I had helped her plan for her very old age, she might have spent her last months surrounded by neighbors and friends, instead of professional caretakers. (more…)

Vertebral compression fractures may occur with major trauma, such as a motorcycle accident, or with something as insignificant as a sneeze, or stepping off of a curb. With a compression fracture, the bone compressed and collapses into itself, similar to squeezing a Styrofoam peanut between your fingers.

How much force it takes to cause a compression fracture, depends on the quality of the bone. (more…)

Many people in this country suffer from lower back pain, including pain in lower left side of back. Because the pain is only on one side of the back, many doctors have trouble finding the actual cause. Many people go through years of endless visits to the doctor and the hospital, expensive rounds of testing, dangerous drugs, and treatments that do nothing to cure lower side pain. (more…)