Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy for chronic low back pain to reduce pain, and improve functionality and general well-being compared with physiotherapy: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Low back pain causes more global disability than any other condition. Once the acute pain becomes chronic, about two-thirds of sufferers will not fully recover after 1-2 years. There is a paucity of effective treatments for non-specific, chronic low back pain.

The longitudinal relationship between body composition and patella cartilage in healthy adults.

Background: Although obesity is a risk factor for patellofemoral osteoarthritis (OA), it is unclear whether the components of body composition, such as muscle and fat mass, are major determinants of articular cartilage properties at the patella.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether anthropometric and body composition measures, assessed over 10 years, were related to articular patella cartilage volume and defects in healthy adults with no clinical knee OA.

Methods And Procedures: Two hundred and ninety-seven healthy, community-based adults aged 50-79 years with no clinical history of knee OA were recruited.