title: Associations between serum lipid levels and chronic low back pain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Low back pain may be related to abnormal lipid levels because of atherosclerosis in arteries supplying the lumbar region.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the cross-sectional HUNT 2 study in the Norwegian county of Nord-Trøndelag, lipid levels were measured in 33,962 women and 30,031 men. A total of 8954 women (26%) and 6273 men (21%) reported suffering from low back pain continuously for at least 3 months in the past year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In age-adjusted analyses, the prevalence of low back pain was inversely associated with HDL cholesterol and positively associated with triglycerides, with stronger associations in women than in men. Relatively weak associations remained in women after adjustment for smoking, physical activity, education, work status, blood pressure, and body mass, but no associations remained among men. Total cholesterol levels were unrelated to low back pain in either sex after age adjustment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results are partly consistent with the atherosclerosis hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. ingrid.heuch@uus.no
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Heuch
authors.forename: Ivar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Heuch
authors.forename: Knut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hagen
authors.forename: John-Anker
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Zwart
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood* / Q000145:classification; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D014280:Triglycerides