Doctor's diary: cooling the furnace - The Telegraph 24th September 2007

James LeFanu on doing away with dowager's hump, odd injuries and hospital hygiene The privilege of standing upright can be a costly one, with back pain caused by the downward pressure of gravity on the base of the spine being among the most common of human afflictions. More seriously, the thinning of the bone with age can so weaken the spinal column that it cracks under the strain, which results in a compression fracture of the vertebrae.

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