A groundbreaking (and back saving) discovery?

Medical research is by its very nature, unpredictable. But every so often, something really unpredictable comes along, with the potential to provide radically different treatments for diseases or conditions. Should preliminary research hold up, this could be just one of those instances.

A study conducted by Danish scientists and published in The European Spine Journal concluded that as much as 40 percent of chronic lower back pain is probably caused by bacterial infection, which is treatable by long-term antibiotic therapy.

Yet, the effect of this approach seems to apply to more than 40 percent of patients. The study, which involved 162 people who had chronic lower back pain for more than six months, showed that about 80 percent of the participants with chronic back pain due to a herniated disc also reported an improvement in their symptoms after taking certain antibiotics for 100 days.

And it seems real. Lead author, Hanne B. Albert, an associate professor at the University of Southern Denmark reported at a press conference in London, In people who received the placebo, nothing happened. People on the antibiotics attained highly clinically significant improvement.

The researchers believe that back pain is caused by an infection of Proprione acne bacteria inside the affected spinal disc. Albert said, The bacteria normally live in hair follicles, on the gums and inside cheeks and may enter the bloodstream after the teeth are brushed and travel into the damaged disc.

If this sounds far-fetched, comments Dr. Bloom so did the idea that stomach ulcers were caused by bacteria not stomach acid. Yet, two physicians, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, proved this and subsequently won the Nobel Prize in medicine for their discovery that the bacteria Helicobacter pylori were indeed the causative agent in 90 percent of gastric ulcers.

Stay tuned. Given the huge number of people suffering from chronic lower back pain, this could be a life-changing event.