Lower back and neck pain are some of the most common health problems affecting American adults. These issues are usually associated with degenerative changes in the intervertebral discs in the spine. In the United States, back pain is the second most common reason for a visit to a doctor.
It’s estimated that nearly 80% of U.S. adults have at least one episode of low back pain during their lifetime, and another 5% go on to have chronic back pain problems. This post gives you a brief outline of degenerative disc disease (DDD), and some statistics surrounding its effect on the adult population.
Understanding Degenerative Disk Disease Diagnosis
Diagnosing DDD is a comprehensive process. The doctor starts by looking into the patient’s medical history to trace the cause of the symptoms and identify risk factors, such as a family history of DDD.
Understanding the pattern of symptomatic stress on the spine helps the doctor understand the behavioral patterns that aggravate the pain, making treatment easier. The doctor conducts a complete physical examination to identify the problem area. It includes testing range of motion and reflexes to narrow the diagnosis.
These tests indicate how pain travels through the spine, affecting mobility and the ability to participate in day-to-day activities. Imaging tests confirm DDD and rule out other conditions like fractures or tumors. Common scanning methods include X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs.
Here are some of the tests doctors use to get an image of the spine and a view on the extent of the DD present in the patient.
Sometimes, the following additional tests are required in the diagnostic process.
- Myelogram – Visualization of abnormalities in the spinal cord.
- Discogram – Investigates whether the disc is working properly or not.
- Nerve Conduction Study and Electromyogram (EMG) – This test outlines the source of symptoms.
The Stats – A Quick Overview
Finding recent data on DD and its impact on the adult population is challenging. We have to go back to 2018 to get an overview of the issue. 2018 data gives some insight on the prevalence of disc degeneration of the lumbar spine in American adults.
- It’s estimated that 266 million people, or 3.63% of the population, are diagnosed with lumbar DSD worldwide every year.
- Europe has the highest incidence (5.7%) and Africa the lowest (2.4%).
- Compared to high-income countries (HICs), low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have almost four times the number of cases.
- Annually, 39 million patients worldwide are being diagnosed with spondylolisthesis at a rate of 0.53%, with the highest rates in European countries at 0.83% and some of the lowest rates in African countries at 0.36%.
- The prevalence of diagnosed pathological disc degeneration worldwide is about 400 million subjects, or 5.5% of the world population; the highest incidence prevails in Europeans, at 8.6%, with the lowest in Africans, at 3.7%.
- LMICs have almost 3.5X the incidence of disc degeneration and low back pain compared to HICs.
- Spinal stenosis has been a bane shared by 102-million people, accounting for 1.4% of the world’s population at that time, with the highest rates in Europe—2.2% and the lowest in Africa—0.94%.
- LMICs have nearly 3.5X the incidence of lower back pain and spinal stenosis compared to HICs.
- Only about 5% of patients require surgical treatment, which includes cervical and lumbar procedures.
These statistics prove that DDD and related conditions are a problem globally and call for continued research toward better treatment methods.
The Growing Trend in Diagnostic Imaging Technology
MRI has been quintessential in the diagnostic process of lumbar disc degeneration. It scans high-resolution images of the spine, showing problems such as herniation, reduced disc height, and changes in nerve signal intensity.
Over the past two decades, research into Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Lumbar Disc Degeneration has increased. In 2018, it increased by 4.62% year.
The USA, China, and Japan are the leading contributors to this research; using MRI tech to scan the lumbar spine. The increasing use of MRI changed the way in which diagnosis and understanding of DDD are carried out in the medical community.
Conventional MRI techniques, primarily T1-weighted and T2-weighted images, give a qualitative description of the morphology of the lumbar disc. The scans pick up indicators of degeneration like disk herniation and diminished disk thickness.
2024 – Advances in Treatment Techniques
Medical science has several classifications of degenerative alterations in the lumbar spine and the nature of the disk degeneration process.
High-intensity zones differ from other symptomatic parts of an intervertebral disk. These HIZs appear as bright white structures in MRI scans. The value of understanding HIZs still is under debate as a predisposing factor for discogenic LBP.
Some studies relate HIZs to the onset of LBP, while others detect asymptomatic subjects, questioning their high reliability in being markers of LBP.
Researchers took up the suggestion that low-intensity zones are asymptomatic fissures that become symptomatic HIZs under certain physiological conditions. Studies report the association of symptomatic HIZs have a statistical correlation with signal intensity, similar to CSF.
There seems to be some controversy among researchers when associating HIZ with the process of disc degeneration. Some studies describe significant HIZs and degenerative disk changes to patients, while others didn’t. This unequivocally proves that further research is required to find out how HIZs participate in disk degeneration and back pain.