Remote control to zap backache 

A remote-controlled ‘pacemaker’ in the spine may help tackle chronic lower back pain.

The matchbox-sized device sends electrical pulses to muscles around the spine to strengthen them. 

The idea is that stronger muscles take the strain off the damaged spine and thus reduce pain.

Patients who had experienced lower back pain for up to 24 years — and had not benefited from other treatments — were helped by the device, according to a recent study.

Six out of ten patients responded to treatment — and now, around 100 are taking part in a new, larger clinical trial in the UK and elsewhere.

Chronic back pain affects nearly 20 per cent of men and women aged 20 to 59. It can be caused by compression of nerves and damage to joints, muscles and ligaments.

There is increasing evidence that muscles play a major role in back pain — one theory is that the brain tries to limit painful movement by reducing or blocking the nerve signals that activate muscles.

This, in turn, can exacerbate the problem, as the muscles become weaker from underuse and cannot properly support the spine, leading to abnormal spinal movements and further pain.

Treatment includes physiotherapy to improve flexibility and strengthen the muscles on either side of the spine. However, in severe cases, the benefits of physiotherapy are limited.

Steroid injections can help reduce the inflammation and, in severe cases, strong morphine-based painkillers are an option (but there is a risk of addiction).

Surgery to fuse the bones in the back to prevent them rubbing together is also possible.

Meanwhile, the new device is a less invasive surgical option, designed to replace the nerve signals blocked by the brain and stimulate the muscles to keep them strong.

Consisting of a battery and tiny electrodes, it is implanted in the back, just under the skin above the waistline, in an hour-long operation under general anaesthetic. 

The electrodes are attached to the dorsal nerves in the spinal cord that supply the muscles. Patients then use a remote control to activate the stimulation for 30 minutes a day.

They may feel the muscles tense up slightly, but it does not hurt.

As the muscles around the spine are strengthened over time, the brain senses reactivation and again starts firing the nerve signals that activate the muscles and further stabilise the spine.

The device is being tested at centres including Southampton University Hospitals.

Results of the earlier trial involving 53 patients showed that the device can be effective. Improvements were seen in around 60 per cent and quality of life improved in 80 per cent.

‘Our results demonstrate clinically important, statistically significant and lasting improvement in pain, disability and quality of life,’ said the researchers from The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, in the journal Neuromodulation.

Commenting on the research, Roger Hackney, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Spire and Nuffield hospitals in Leeds, said: ‘This is interesting, but the device needs to be compared with other interventions such as TENS [transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation], which involves external electrical stimulation.

‘It also needs to be tested against proper low-back rehabilitation protocols, which all patients may not have received.’

Being overweight might damage your hearing

Hearing loss has been linked with obesity in a study of 48,000 Japanese workers given annual hearing checks.

The results, published in the Clinical Nutrition journal, showed hearing loss risk was highest in obese employees — even after adjusting for factors such as noise exposure. 

The researchers, from the National Centre for Global Health and Medicine in Tokyo, suggested three causes: the furring-up of arteries constricting blood flow to the inner ear; obesity-related chemical changes disrupting the hair cells that help us hear; and inflammation damaging the inner ear.

Dose of cherry a day may keep gout at bay

A daily dose of tart cherries is being tested as a treatment for gout.

Around 120 people who’ve had at least one attack of gout in the past 12 months are taking part in a trial at Sheffield Hallam University, in which they will receive a daily 30ml dose of tart cherry concentrate — equivalent to about 100 fresh cherries — for a year. 

Gout is caused by high levels of uric acid, produced when purines — compounds in alcohol and foods such as bacon

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