Those Aching Joints Could be in your Genes

An article in Science Daily, suggests that a recent study can prove that the causes and mechanisms of pain can be linked to genetics. New research from Professor Livshits of Tel Aviv University's  department of anatomy at the Sackler faculty of medicine, shows that genetics are a major contributing factor to joint pain.  Professor Livshits studied a twin population of 2,500 people who were identical and non identical female twins.  He tested each person for potential risk factors such as smoking and vertebral disc degeneration.  Different tests were used to collect data such as MRI's of the spine, assessments of fat and bone mass, and blood samples fro DNA extraction.  Non identical twins were three times more likely to experience bad pain if there twin had.  Considering that non identical twins only share half of their DNA this was an interesting result.  In identical twins the individual was six times more likely to experience joint disease

[caption id="attachment_4198" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Through research back pain maybe genetically linked. "][/caption]

if their twin also experienced it.  Lower back pain was always associated with degeneration of vertebral discs but researchers have shown that both could occur independently.  There are different genetic factors that independently cause back pain not to mention that age plays a major role as well.  There needs to be more research on back pain and a more comprehensive study of the genome search for who is affected and non affected.  Back and joint pain plagues the world so finding out more information to see if its linked genetically can be extremely useful.

 

Genetics can shed light on the future of your ailments then the majority of people can alter their lifestyles to handle their predisposition to expressing the disease.  There needs to be a greater extent to this kind of research so we can provide definite solutions.