Lumbar spine MRI is a highly recommended scanning method for the detection of various lumbar or lower back spinal disorders. This technique employs highly sophisticated technology to produce clear and accurate images of the internal structures.

Ideal to Diagnose Lumbar Disc Abnormalities

Lumbar spine MRI is a procedure that can be recommended for all kinds of patients - the elderly, handicapped, obese and even pediatric patients. Degenerative disc problems such as sprain, strain, herniated disc or other lumbar spine problems can be detected by means of a lumbar spine MRI. These days, this method is may be sought after for disorders such as lumbar stenosis. This is a medical condition that ends up in the narrowing of the spine. Spinal arthritis, primarily seen among the aged people, is another lumbar spinal disorder that can be diagnosed through L-spine MRI.

Hi-Tech Scanning Method more Popular with Patients and Physicians

Latest technological advancements have brought forth a newer development in the area of imaging - the open AIRIS II system. Within minimum time possible, you can accomplish the entire scanning process done. The operation is completely quiet and for claustrophobic patients, the large open air gantry can potentially remove fears about the narrow tubes of the usual MRI machines. This scanning process covers large spinal areas and helps to detect the changes within the discs. Physicians can carry out the diagnosis process easily as this procedure gives detailed images of even the soft tissues.

Precautions

Lumbar spine MRI scanning cannot be performed on people having cardiac pacemakers or other metallic implants in the body. Before going for the scanning procedure, patients are advised to remove metallic objects such as ornaments, removable dental work, hairpins, and metal zippers. Otherwise, the strong magnetic field produced may interfere with these metallic objects while the scanning process is going on.

For any physical disorder, it is advisable to diagnose and treat before it becomes worse. Through lumbar spine MRI, detection and treatment of specific lower back spinal disorders is possible.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — An FDA advisory panel voted to recommend approval of a new formulation of oxycodone hydrochloride (OxyContin) that is more difficult to crush or dissolve, and which may deter drug abuse.

By a 14-4 margin, with one abstention, the panel recommended that the FDA approve Purdue Pharma’s application for a new, resin-coated formulation that it hopes will eventually replace the original version, which has been on the market since 1996.

The FDA does not have to follow the advice of its advisory committees, but it usually does.

The advisory panel’s endorsement was less-than-enthusiastic in this case, and members complained that there’s no proof the new version of the drug is any safer than regular oxycodone hydrochloride — one of the few drugs on the market that can be deadly in a single dose.

Purdue’s current pill is meant to be swallowed whole, but abusers can easily chew it or crush it and then snort it, smoke it, or dissolve it in liquid and inject it to achieve a heroin-like high.

Although there is no proof that the new formulation is safer, the panel agreed that making the pills harder to crush, chew, or dissolve into liquid may deter abusers. When the new version of the drug is dissolved into water, it produces a gel, which makes snorting the drug more difficult.

“Clearly the old [formulation] is worse than the new, although I think the difference is relatively small,” said panelist Randall Flick, MD, an anesthesiologist at the Mayo Clinic who voted to recommend approval of the drug.

“My feeling is that there would at least be some incremental improvement in the safety profile,” said panelist Stephanie Crawford, PhD, a pharmacist at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

Some 1.2 million people age 12 and older used OxyContin in 2006 for nonmedical purposes, according to the Department of Health and Human Service’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Purdue originally sought FDA approval for low-dose versions of the new product in 2008, but the agency told the company to develop more clinical data and to apply the technology to all dosages of the drug.

Also, it took until 2008 for the company to convince the advisory panel in 2008 that the drug was any more difficult to tamper with than the original formulation, said panelist Ruth Day, PhD, director of the Medical Cognition Laboratory at Duke University.

This time around, the company convinced the panel that new tablet is harder to dissolve or crush and that the resin excipient might make it harder to take the drug in an unprescribed manner, said Day, who was also a member of last year’s panel.

In one lab test, Purdue researchers used 16 household tools to attempt to crush the tablet into small particles. All 16 tools handily crushed the original OxyContin tablets to a fine powder. Although four of the tools managed to break down the new tablet into shavings or particles, none could turn it into powder.

Even so, FDA staff reviewers concluded that the technology does not make a huge difference in OxyContin’s abuse potential.

Hardcore abusers are likely to devise new ways to break down the harder tablet or figure out which solvents will dissolve it fastest, within “day or weeks of the product’s release on the market,” Flick predicted.

The panelists who voted for approval said they were concerned that Purdue had not developed an adequate Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy for the drug.

The new formulation will keep the name “OxyContin” and be used in seven available doses. Purdue said it will not market the reformulation as a “safer” version.

If it’s approved, Purdue will produce only the newer version and stop shipping the old one.

“Within six to eight weeks [of production] roughly 90% of drug in the supply chain will be the new product,” said Craig Landau, MD, Purdue’s chief medical officer.

Related Article(s):

• FDA Panels to Review ‘Tamper-Resistant’ Oxycodone
• Docs Urge FDA to Go Easy on Opioid Risk Reduction Strategies
• FDA to Step Up Regulation of Extended-Release Opioids

Back pain has always been a problem for people yet it has become more prevalent in recent times due to an increased sedentary lifestyle and in particular as a result of spending more time, both at work and at leisure, sitting in front of a computer screen adopting an incorrect sitting posture. There are common causes of back pain and the key is how to simply, yet effectively cure them.

First of all, it is important to understand that back pain is not a specific medical condition in itself. It is one of the consequences of many short and long term medical conditions. Some conditions are found at birth whilst others emerge as a result of lifestyle or undertaking physical activity.

A major factor contributing to the creation of back pain is how in fact the spine moves, or more accurately, how the spine is allowed to move in an incorrect manner. This occurs through the adoption of poor habits over an extended period of time including incorrect posture or sitting positions, which are then difficult to break free from or where the movement of the spine is directly influenced by older age. As the body becomes older, the discs located between the vertebrae of the spine start to wither and break down. Obviously the result is a reduction in body flexibility.

There are other conditions that create back pain which have the capability of appearing very quickly and without warning such as muscle spasms, sprains and fractures and can be the cause of short term or longer lasting chronic pain. The body is susceptible to sprains and spasms when inappropriate techniques are used for lifting objects or where too much pressure is placed on the frame and muscles when undertaking physical tasks. This, unfortunately, will result in small tears appearing in ligaments that are essential in the support of the body’s spine.

In addition, do not forget that the role of stress can be a major factor in determining how severe the pain is and how long it lasts. Stress can affect the body both physically and mentally with the result being for instance, that back muscles can become tensed up, and thus create the potential for pain and discomfort.

So what measures can be undertaken to achieve back pain relief? Some of the most effective remedies are self administered ones and importantly, natural rather than the sufferer heading for the medicine cabinet to gain the benefit of a short term fix. The results derived from undertaking stretching exercises amazes those suffering from back pain as with a few simple techniques, not just the pain itself is eased, but often also the cause that created the pain in the first place. With such exercises being self administered and natural, they are of course hard to beat, not like back pain if your know exactly what to do.