Out-of-the-Box Lawyering

An alert for victims of traumatically-caused chronic back pain and their attorneys

Chronic back pain can shrink the gray matter in a sufferer’s brain. This is one of the conclusions in a study from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, according to healthfinder.gov, a U.S. government website. And that shrinkage, according to the site, can be as much as 11 percent in one year, which is “the same amount of brain density that’s lost in 10 to 20 years of normal aging.”

The article, entitled “Chronic Back Pain Is Associated with Decreased Prefrontal and Thalamic Gray Matter Density,” was published in the November 17 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. (The date of the issue is sometimes misreported as November 23. An abstract of the article is online in the Journal's website. See below for how to purchase a PDF copy of the entire article online.)

WebMD summarizes the article in non-technical terms:

“In the first study of its kind, researchers from Northwestern University have found that chronic back pain actually shrinks the brain by as much as 11%. Specifically, it shrinks the gray matter, which makes up the part of the brain responsible for memory and information processing.”

More details about the loss

The WebMD article continues:

“MRI brain images and other sophisticated imaging tests, which measured gray matter size, were performed on all patients. After adjusting for age and gender factors, scientists found that, overall, chronic back pain patients lost about 5%-11% of gray matter a year -- about the same as 10 to 20 years or normal aging, the researchers say. Typically, normal aging results in only about 0.5% of gray matter loss each year, they add.

“Those with chronic back pain with sciatica had the largest decrease in gray matter. In addition, the more years someone has chronic back pain, the more brain loss they suffered.”

The researchers’ summary includes more technical information than WebMD, including the researchers’ finding that “The decreased volume was related to pain duration, indicating a 1.3 [cubic centimeter] loss of gray matter for every year of chronic pain.”

The loss of brain power may be permanent

WebMD notes that the researchers found that the loss may not just be temporary: “The researchers hypothesize that as chronic back pain persists it may become more irreversible and less responsive to treatment due to these brain changes.”

For additional details, you can read Northwestern's release entitled “Chronic Back Pain Shrinks ‘Thinking Parts’ of Brain” that includes some details about the article that I haven't listed above, including information about what the lead researcher for this article and his colleagues found in prior research.

“In earlier research, Dr. Apkarian and colleagues found that back pain sustained for six months or longer is accompanied by abnormal brain chemistry, indicated by chemical changes in the area of the brain known to be important in making emotional assessments, including decision-making, and for controlling social behavior.”

So, if you are a back pain sufferer who was injured in an accident or you are an attorney representing a back pain victim, this may help you obtain damages for a real loss which you may not have considered previously.

LINKS FOR PRINTOUTS:

Healthfinder.gov
http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.asp?docID=522408

Journal of Neuroscience abstract
http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/abstract/24/46/10410

Journal of Neuroscience complete article
To have a PDF copy of the article sent to you, you can go to www.infotrieve.com, then register and order the article. It is in Issue 46 of Volume 24, the date of the issue is November 17, 2004, and the title begins with “Chronic back pain.” The total cost for the article should be $28, which is a $12 fee for Infotrieve, a $15 copyright royalty fee, and $1 for the electronic delivery.)

Northwestern summary of article
http://www.medschool.northwestern.edu/newsworthy/2004B-November/Back%20pain.html

WebMD article
http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/97/104181.htm

Posted by ajlevy at November 29, 2004 5:51 PM