Is your back ‘killing you’?

When someone complains “my back is killing me” it may not be an exaggeration, research suggests.

Older people who suffer from back pain have a 13% increased risk of dying from any cause, a study has shown.

Scientists recorded death rates in 4,390 Danish twins aged over 70 to see if there was any correlation with spinal pain.

Dr Paulo Ferreira, from Sydney University in Australia, said: “Our study found that compared to those without spinal pain a person with spinal pain has a 13% higher chance of dying every year.

“This is a significant finding as many people think that back pain

Studying twins allowed the scientists to rule out shared genetic factors as an influence on the result.

If one of a pair of twins, who share the same genes, died early and the other did not, inherited genes were unlikely to be the reason.

Dr Ferreira said: “These findings warrant further is not lifethreatening.” investigation because while there is a clear link between back pain and mortality, we don’t know why this is so.

“Spinal pain may be part of a pattern of poor health and poor functional ability, which increases mortality risk in the older population.”

Policy-makers should be aware that back pain is a “serious issue” and an indicator of poor health, he said.

Dr Ferreira said commonly prescribed painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs were not effective at treating back pains.

He added: “The best treatment for low back is a healthy lifestyle, including physical activity. People need to get moving.”