The compression and distortion of internal organs caused by tight waisted nineteenth century whalebone corsets produced a very similar large range and number of symptoms and illnesses to those of poor posture.

Cosets also altered the shape of the spine, and permanently changed the chest from a widely open barrel shape to a very tightly closed funnel shape. 

YouTube Video on posture education - humorous -Posture Pals, and Pic

Poor posture is unlikely to cause problems such as back pain in the first few years of life, but can become a more serious problem if it changes the shape of the spine and becomes permanent as the child develops into adult hood. Knowing how to prevent the problem is also useful at any stage in relieving or managing the secondary symptoms.

Poor nutrition affects the strength of the muscles and bones that support the human posture, so good nutrition is important. Similarly any infectious illness that results in nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, poor appetite, and weight loss can weaken muscles and bones so they should be guarded against, and recovery from them should include the appropriate type of exercise to regain strength as soon as possible, especially during childhood.

Other preventive measures include sleeping on bedding that is flat and has the degree of firmness that allows the natural slightly S-shaped curve of the spine to be maintained. e.g. not so hard that the spine is kept too straight, and not so soft that it sags like a hammock. Many bedding companies provide advice on such requirements.

It is important to use appropriate seating for the persons size. The height should be such that the feet can be placed flat on the floor for support. The length of the chair should be in proportion to the length of the thigh so that the lower back is not dragged forward into a curve, and the back rest of the chair should be slightly inclined backwards, and have a slight curve in the mid to lower back area to support that natural slight curve in the lower spine.

When sitting at a desk it should be at a height that the person does not have to lean forward to read, and if the person does lean, they should do so from the hips and not the waist. Writing requires the use of one hand and movements to the left and right side of the page which twists the spine and breastbone, so it is preferable to use computer keyboards which require both hands equally and do not result in twisting the spine. The keyboard and mouse should be level with the forearm when it is parallel to the ground so as not to bend the wrist which can interfere with blood supply to the hand. The computer screen should be at eye height. In general any activity that requires leaning toward a desk should be avoided, but ordinary sitting without leaning forward is not such a problem. If it is the person can use a properly designed recliner chair to rest in and relieve some of the aches that result from postural strains during the day.

Children who carry heavy school books to and from school in satchels or kit bags may develop sideways curvature of the spine, so they should avoid carrying unnecessarily heavy books, and put them in knapsacks on their backs instead. Similarly, having one leg longer than the other can cause sideways curvature of the spine, but that can be remedied by the use of shoe inserts, and some practitioners specialise in that aspect, and, in some cases orthopedic surgeons can lengthen the short leg. Women should avoid wearing high heel shoes because they lift the heel, and tilt the hip bone, and push the abdomen forward, and curve the upper spine into a stoop. If they still want to wear them they should consider that occasional use in social situations is better than wearing them all the time.

There are numerous other methods, but it is also important to know what normal posture is, and what defects you may have. This can be assessed by looking sideways into a mirror to determine if the spine is abnormally stooped or S-shaped, and by looking front on to see if one shoulder is lower than the other, indicating sideways curvature of the spine.

Throughout history there have been many observations about the harmful effects of poor posture and many methods have been devised to relieve the problems. The most obvious is Yoga, but there are others such as chiropractic and osteopathy, and more recently the Alexander Technique which partly involves raising the head so that the spine straightens out, and then finding a position of balance where the head is directly above the spine and feet so that good posture can be maintained by balance, rather than by straining the muscles to stop the body from falling forward or backwards. Physiotherapists now incorporate some of those methods in their practice, and if deformity is severe it can sometimes be treated by orthopedic surgeons.

Education about the benefits of good posture is perhaps the most important.

The Posture Theory web site is an introduction to a 1000 page book which deals with any and every aspect of posture and health, and includes a study of the subject from the medical, research, and popular literature, and brings a lot of scattered, unco-ordinated, and diverse information into one unifying source.

Of course, the relationship between good posture and good health is obvious to observers because the person with a straight spine and broad shoulders looks fit and healthy, and the person with a round shouldered slouch looks tired and sickly. Nevertheless it has been the subject of debate for thousands of years.

1. In 1975 I wanted to find a way of explaining why a person would feel faint each time they leaned toward a desk, and why the faintness would be relieved each time they leaned back. 2. I began to study the relevant information and soon found that a set of associated symptoms were a part of a condition called Da Costa's syndrome, and later, that such patients were usually sedentary workers with thin physiques with long, narrow, or flat chests, and stooped spines. 3. Some years later I read about a scientific method called Valsalva's Maneuver where a person pinches their nose, and holds their mouth shut, and attempts to forcibly breath out. That process increases the air pressure in their chest and compresses the blood vessels to reduce the blood flow passing through the chest from the feet to the brain. 4. I eventually concluded that leaning forward at a desk was compressing the air in the chest to cause the faintness. 5. However, I needed to explain why such an obvious cause of symptoms was not common knowledge and why people were arguing with me when I explained it. I eventually concluded that most people who leaned forward would not feel faint because their spines were straight and they naturally bent at the hips, and would not compress their chests, but people with stooped spines and flat chests would tend to bend at the waist, and compress their waist and the blood vessels inside as their chest moved forward and down. 6. I also assumed that a sedentary worker who leaned forward ten times a minute to read or write for many years or decades would eventually strain and weaken the blood vessels of the abdomen until the slightest compression of the chest reduced the blood flow to the brain, and that only in extreme cases would a person feel faint every time they leaned forward. 7. Most healthy people would never feel faint when leaning forward, and it would probably be rare for it to be so obviously related to leaning forward in Da Costa's syndrome, but those patients experience faintness, dizziness, and fatigue at other times without knowing why, and although there are many other theories to explain the symptoms, none have been proven. 8. The most popular theory is that the condition is caused by work stress or anxiety, and when the patient says that the work is not stressful and that they have nothing to be anxious about they are told that it is due to "free floating" anxiety, or "sub-conscious" anxiety related to forgotten childhood experiences. 9. Some psychologists also argued that nineteenth century women often felt faint because of psychological factors, and that their typical fainting spells disappeared in the early twentieth century because of advances in psychotherapy, however those women wore tight waisted corsets and they relieved the fainting spells by unlacing their corsets, and corsets went out of fashion in the early twentieth century because of scientific and public debates which concluded that corsets were extremely harmful to health M.B.

References:

Sir Thomas Lewis (1918) The Soldiers Heart and the Effort Syndrome, Shaw & Sons, London p. 20-29: A large percentage of soldiers who developed the Effort Syndrome had poor physiques and long, narrow or flat chests associated with a kyphotic curve (hunchback spine) and many came from sedentary occupations. "It is unquestionable that many men recruited from sedentary occupations were affected by the condition before joining, although previous to that event in their life-history symptoms had never manifested themselves. The question naturally arises as to the extent to which sedentary work predisposes to the affection; no conclusive answer can be returned from the data at our disposal, though these strongly suggest sedentary work as a predisposing cause". Some of those soldiers experienced giddiness when standing up suddenly, or more rarely, even when laying down, and "a number of tested patients complained of equal giddiness when moved on a swingboard into the lying position" . . . and this . . . "seems to be associated with faulty distribution of the circulating blood during the period of giddiness".

Sir Thomas Lewis (1937) Diseases of the Heart 2nd edition, MacMillan and Co., Limited, London p.97-98 and p.158-164: There is a rare type of postural faintness which is associated with the faulty distribution of blood which tends to accumulated in the abdominal veins. This is closely related to cases where the person feels faint when they stoop down to lace their boots or lift heavy weights, and it occurs because the mechanical or muscular action compresses the abdomen and squeezes the blood out of the abdominal veins. When they stand up again the blood takes a few moments longer to fill the veins, and in the meantime blood flow to the heart and brain is diminished.

See also; Scientific measurements of the pressures in the chest and abdomen which are created by wearing tight belts or corsets or by leaning toward a sewing machine or desk etc click here

Seventeeth century women wore extremely tight corsets which deformed their ribs into a funnel shape, and led them to die young with lungs which were described as being in a state of "withering rottenesse" see references: Anthropometamorphosis. Nineteent century women who wore tight waisted whalebone corsets would typically heave with breathlessness brought on by the slightest emotion or exertion.

 In the nineteeth century women wore tight waisted corsets for most of their lives. Such corsets compressed the stomach and forced the liver, spleen and kidneys downwards, straining and permanently stretching the attachments, such as the ligaments, blood vessels, and nerves which held them in their correct place in the midriff. Consequently the liver and spleen etc hung loose and would slide up and down and side to side excessively in response to gravitational or centrifugal forces such as roller coaster rides or even such minor movements on the moving tilt table. Those forces would therefore also temporarily and excessively stretch the blood vessels and weaken the blood flow to the heart, which probably explains why the patients feel an extreme sense of distress in their chest, and an extreme and reduced blood flow to the brain would account for the alarming sense of to-ing and fro-ing faintness with each change of direction.

Furthermore as the liver etc swung loosely against the abdominal wall, or downwards against the blood vessels from the legs the affect would be magnified.

Poor posture also pushes the liver, stomach and spleen etc. downwards (visceroptosis). Nineteenth century corset wearers would typically faint with the slightest emotion or exertion, and would relieve the faint by unlacing the corset and laying on a chaise lounge which had an arm at one end so that the woman could rest against it with her head and shoulders slightly elevated, and with her legs free to extend at the other..Some were housed in purpose built fainting rooms.

 Some people feel palpitations of their heart when they lay down on their backs too suddenly. That is probably because they have loose livers etc which slide toward their heart and they can therefore feel its beating, in a similar way to the fact that they can feel the pulse in their wrist if they apply pressure from their hand onto the wrist artery.

That would explain why the problem can be avoided by laying down very slowly and gradually.

In the early twentieth century some surgeons cured the problems by sewing the liver etc onto the diaphram to keep them in a more normal position. However the symptoms returned again in a year for reasons which were not understood but it may have been because the patients kept wearing corsets or slouching and pushing down against the weak surgical stitching until it gave way.

 When a person with a loosely attached liver and stomach stands up the liver etc slides downwards and makes the lower abdomen bulge excessively into a pot belly shape. That would put pressure on the blood vessels which bring blood from the feet to the heart, and may explain why some people feel faint when suddenly standing up as they get out of bed in the morning, or at any other time.

That would also explain why the faintness can be minimised or avoided by standing up gradually, and walking off slowly for a few seconds.

 Da Costa's Syndrome . . . "It is concluded that there is some association between left thoracic (chest) pain, and poor diaphragmatic or lower thoracic movement. (The diaphragm doesn't rise completely when exhaling and the lower chest has poor expansion). A more severe left-sided chest pain can be brought on by "strain of certain muscular attachments involved in such actions as cranking a lorry or lifting a heavy weight".

A typical example of the past and present physique, health, and personal history of a patient with the effort syndrome;

He was generally aged 30, and previously did clerical work but was currently unemployed, who had a thin build and long chest, was never robust, got frequent sore throats and colds as a child, had his tonsils and appendix out, and was "unable to sit and lie quietly", and had a weak stomach, and had his kidneys damaged by Scarlet fever, and there were frequent fluctuations in the color and volume of his urine. "He has always been nervous and easily fatigued", and he "was never allowed" to take part in competitive sports and has felt inferior physically to others of his own age. He 'never got over' his attack of grippe three years ago, and since then has had gradually increasing pain in his heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, faintness and weakness. All of his symptoms are made worse by exertion or nervous strain". . . the breathlessness "is not true air hunger, but literally a 'shortness of breath,' a feeling that deep breath cannot be achieved. The patient usually localizes this sensation in the chest wall itself" . . . "which seems unable to expand normally", and this produces frequent sighing, which "is not commonly present in patients with organic heart disease", and is important in making that distinction in diagnosis . . . and "many theories have been used in the past to explain the cause of the syndrome, with widely varying opinions which may each have a "fragment of truth", and the 1939 author lists 10 which includes "Pressure from clothing".

Reference: Caugney J.L. Jnr., M.D. (April 1939), Cardiovascular Neurosis; A review. Psychosomatic Medicine,Vol.1 No.3, April 1939

The prevention or early correction of postural problems is important because unless the problem is treated in childhood it will be likely to result in poor digestion and the development of a shallow chest, and the worse the spinal and chest problem become in childhood the more illness and misery is likely to occur in adulthood.

The hunchback poet Alexander Pope had multiple severe spinal deformities which were probably the result of tuberculosis of the spine which he contracted at the age of three when he was trampled by an infected cow. Those deformities included a forward stoop in the upper spine, and a severe arch in his lower spine which pushed his abdomen forward, and sideways curvature of the spine. He spoke of his life as "a long disease", and in one of his poems he wrote about his "headaches, indigestion and a thousand other aches and pains".

Alexander Pope died of a combination of a respiratory condition (a lung and breathing disorder), and Bright's disease (damage to the filters in the kidneys, with proteinuria and high blood pressure).

Plato's men were broad shouldered, full, square, and somewhat strong, and mighty men".

Reference: Anthropometamorphosis (1650) p.281

A review of the references reveals the distinction between the symptoms of Da Costa's Syndrome, and those of heart disease, and anxiety disorders, and the factors which contribute to a common cause of compression of the chest which predisposes to their development. For the purpose of clarification they are presented in the following two lists.

The five cardiac like symptoms of Da Costa's syndrome have been called classic, cardinal, or characteristic, and were mixed with a variety of other less prominent symptoms, which were associated with compression of the chest, which was related to abnormal spinal curvature, chest shape, and leaning forward.

* (1) Chest Pains: The postural compression of the ribs placed strain on the structures between them resulting in occasional brief sharp stabbing pains in the lower left side of the chest.
* (2) Breathlessness: Pressure on the diaphragm impeded it's upward movement and impaired it's function and respiratory efficiency to cause an occasional sense of not being able to get a full breath, which is relieved by a characteristic forced yawn particularly during exercise, where two to four deep breaths in quick succession may be required every twenty yards or so.
* (3) Palpitations: Pressure on the heart pushed it toward the anterior chest wall where changes in pulse were more readily perceived as palpitations.
* (4 & 5) Faintness and Fatigue: Pressure on the air and blood vessels in the chest impaired blood flow between the feet and the brain which disposed to tiredness, and the resistance to blood flow affected the tone of the walls of the abdominal veins which weakened circulation and disposed to faintness and reduced exertional capacity.

The six factors which contributed to the cause, as evident from the observations of Da Costa, Lewis, Wood, Wheeler, and other sources, included:

* (a) Postural Compression: a stooped curvature of the upper spine kyphosis, a forward curve in the lower spine lordosis and sideways curvature of the spine scoliosis.
* (b) Mechanical Compression: Leaning forward, bending or stooping added to the pressure, particularly bending at the waist instead of the hips.
* (c) Chest Dimension: The postural compression would be more pronounced in a chest which was small, long, narrow, flat, or receding, e.g. pectus excavatum.
* (d)Tight Waisted Clothing: Tight belts or corsets add resistance to downward compression, and nineteenth century corseted women were renown for becoming readily breathless, faint, and exhausted, and would gain relief by unlacing their corset and laying on their back with their head and shoulders elevated on the arm of a chaise lounge.[16]
* (e) Pregnancy: Especially in the latter stages when the enlarging womb presses up against the diaphragm, heart, and lungs.
* (f) Visceroptosis: If the postural compression displaced internal anatomy then another contributing feature may be visceroptosis adding to the instability of circulation in response to changes in gravitational and centrifugal forces. e.g. faintness when standing up quickly, or distressing sensations in the chest when being moved about suddenly on a tilt table, or when riding on roller coasters or spin rides at carnivals.

Avis Films Inc. (2008) Posture Pals, YouTube video, with assistance from The Burbank Unified School District and The Los Angeles City School Districts Health Services Branch, Corrective Physical Education Section; This humorous video provides a useful account of the teaching of posture in schools of the past. Note that the teacher was wearing high heel shoes, and a tight waisted dress which would have adversely affected her own posture and health. The recognition of the importance of posture education has varied from insignificant to crucial from teacher to teacher, school to school, country to country, and decade to decade for the past 100 years, reflecting the differences of opinion relating to the lack of absolute proof about the relationship between cause and effect.
This relates to the fact that human anatomy is covered by a layer of skin, so children and adults cannot see the internal function of the body. It would therefore be useful if someone could produce an animated 3D YouTube video of the changing shape of internal organs when the person has different postures - kyphosis, scoliosis, or lordosis, and long, narrow, flat, or receding chests, and what happens when the sternum has a forward or reverse angle when the person leans forward at the waist or hips, and what happens when the person slouches and the spine and sternum twists as the hand moves from left to right, and down as they write, and what happens when they wear high heel shoes. and compress their waist with tight waisted belts or corsets. The Posture Theory Challenge: To produce such a video.

In 1969 I was a gymnastics instructor and was offered 3 scholarships to do youth leadership training in the Group Work course at the South Australian Institute of Technology. The first was from the National Fitness Council of Australia, N.S.W. HQ. ("responsible for . . . the organisation of training courses in physical education"), which was followed by a South Australian State Govenrment Department of Community Welfare offer of full time study on full salary, and then a Commonwealth Government offer. In 1975 I became interested in fitness and fatigue research, and in 1981 I approached Tony Sedgewick, Head of the S.A. Institute for Fitness Research and Training, to discuss the international research problem of not being able to get useful data on fatigue patients, because they either refused to train, or dropped out of the programmes too soon to get meaningful results. He asked me to develop a methodology for solving the problem, and a few months later I provided him with a programme design to consider, and the principles were (1) The condition involved different degrees of severity, (2) the patients should train within their own limits, and (3) they should improve at their own rate. I was then invited to co-ordinate a research study on the subject, which initially involved obtaining a small research grant from the South Australian State Government Department of Recreation of Sport, establishing a programme committee, and recruiting trainees with fatigue through newspaper articles. Over the next two years the IFRT received more than 200 enquiries, and 80 patients were medically assessed, and their exertional capacity was measured using standard scientifically reliable graphs of pulse over load on an ergometric cycle. 9 participants completed training which consisted of light exercise, and walking or jogging for two hours, for two nights per week, for three months or more, and 5 completed 6 months or more. The results showed (1) those who didn't train stayed at the same ergometic capacity (2) three improved for 3 months and then leveled out below standard levels, and (3) one improved slowly for the first 3 months, and then significantly improved in the second term. In one group six individuals trained in the same class for three months and their position from first to sixth while walking or jogging around the oval corresponded to their measured aerobic capacity. A lifestyle questinairre was also included at the outset, and those who had previously changed and restricted their lifestyle because of their fatigue were found to have low to very low aerobic measurements, and those who did not need to change lifestyle had average to above ergometric results. A general account of the results were reported in the major newspapers in 4 of the 6 Australian states between 1982 and 1983. Some years later, when reviewing the results I came to the conclusion that the mixed data was the result of recruiting patients with fatigue, which, in relation to the dual meaning of the word, would bring 3 different groups to the programme (1) those with sleep disorders who were abnormally tired (2) those who had a physical disorder which affected their capacity for exertion, and (3) those who had a mixture of both.

Nowadays (2008) similar programmes have been implemented and assessed with several studies showing variable results, where some patients benefit from the programme and others have problems, in the latter case probably because they increase their exercise levels at too fast a rate, or exceed their limits and experience the type of symptoms that deter them from continuing. Voluntary participation, and progression, only if they benefit from initially walking at a casual pace of their choice, may be useful in that regard. The condition involves varying degrees of severity from person to person and day to day which requires progress, if any, to be flexible, rather than regulated or expected according to an orderly gradient of improvement, with the person free to choose to stop training, if and when they reach a level of improvement that ceases to benefit from additional training, or to remain at that level as part of a maintenance programme. Other groups of patients, such as those with asthma, arthritis, obesity, or heart disease, may also be limited in their capacity for exertion, but to a different degree, and for different reasons. M.B.

Graded Exercise Therapy, or "GET is one of the most common treatments for CFS" (chronic fatigue syndrome) Another similar method of treatment which relates to keeping within exercise and lifestyle limits is called "pacing" and there are several versions of it based on the general principle of "Self-controlled rest and exercise".

"Self-controlled rest and exercise, "pacing": "Pacing" is being advocated by many patients as one of the few really effective means of minimising homeostatic disequilibrium. The principles involve acceptance of the patient's limitations (by both the patient and any coaches), awareness of the early signals of deterioration e.g. increased cognitive difficulties, pain, clumsiness, muscle weakness, respiratory problems; and stopping exercise/activity before exceeding limitation or "crashing." A good rule of thumb is to never exert more than 70% of capacity. An understanding nurse, doctor or physical therapist may be of help."

Reference 1 : Hurst, J.W.; R.B.Logue, R.C.Schlant, N.K.Wenber (1974). The Heart 3rd. edition. New York: McGraw Hill Book Co.,, 1552-1555 - The authors of this paper stated "Attempts by Cohen and his associates to alter these abnormalities by physical training were unsuccessful since the patients could not or would not follow the prescribed training programme." and commented that previous studies of a small number of patients by Holmgren in 1959 and Levander-Lindgren in 1964 has shown that training programmes had shown some benefits. It was the comment that these patients "would not or could not train" that prompted me to design a programme that patients "could and would train" if they were instructed to train within their own limits.

Reference 2: Wikipedia, Chronic fatigue syndrome, history of edits, 18:38, 27-9-07, 5.1.2.

Reference 3. E.M. Goudsmit, Howes S. (2008), Pacing: A strategy to improve energy management in chronic fatigue syndrome, Health Psychology Update (BPS), 2008, 17, 1, 46-52.

See also Wikipedia "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 2.3, & 2,4, & 5.1.2" (30-12-07), and click on the history tab and scroll down to the date 30-12-07, and the end of 5.1.2 to see the "pacing" paragraph, which was deleted from the wikipedia CFS page at 11:22 on 5-1-08. Note that the links will now only lead to the current page on CFS where the pacing details have been removed.

Wikipedia (1-1-08) - CFS ref.. 178. The "Gibson Report" Report of the Group on Scientific Research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (2006)

Wikipedia (1-1-08) - CFS ref. 188. Peter D White, Michael C Sharpe, Trudie Chalder, Julia C DeCesare, Rebecca Walwyn for the PACE trial group (2007). "Protocol for the PACE trial: A randomised controlled trial of adaptive pacing, cognitive behaviour therapy, and graded exercise as supplements to standardised specialist medical care versus standardised specialist medical care alone for patients with the chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis or encephalopathy.". BMC Neurology 7:6. DOI 10.1186/1471-2377-7-6. 

See also: Better Connect Channel (20-1-08) - Chronic fatigue syndrome and Exercise:: Health and medical information for consumers, quality assured by the Victorian government (Australia).

see also: Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine 17th edition. New York U.S.A.: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., 2703=2704. The text of this summary links the former term "effort syndrome" to the modern condition of "chronic fatigue syndrome" and refers to graded exercise regimes which have "proven" effective in relieving symptoms and improving exercise tolerance.

Chronic fatigue syndrome includes a large range of ailments which involve the symptom of fatigue as one of the main features. Throughout the history of these conditions there have been differences of opinions and controversies about cause and nature, between doctors from one specialty to another, and from those who believe it is "all in the mind" to those who think it is physical, and from doctor to patient, and from one individual or group of patients to another. It appears as if different causes are being argued about as if they relate to the same condition, so in order to clarify the difference between anxiety, sleep, or exertional disorders, for example, it is necessary to clearly, accurately, and precisely identify each of the many sub-types of which Da Costa's syndrome is one of the exertional disorders, where the patients do not necessarily have a fear of exertion or heart disease, and they don't necessarily have agoraphobia or panic attacks, and are not necessarily depressed or having nightmares, and may or may not have recollection of previous exposure to viral infections or toxic chemicals, etc. M.B.

See also; The Disease of a Thousand Names Compiled on-line by medical consumer Malissa Kaplan, last updated April 19, 2007.

"The cause of CFS is unknown, although a large number of causes have been proposed, and several proposed causes have very vocal and partisan advocates. In a basic overview of CFS for health professionals, the CDC states that "After more than 3,000 research studies, there is now abundant scientific evidence that CFS is a real physiological illness."[50] The cause of CFS may be different for different patients, but if so, the various causes may result in a common clinical outcome."

Reference: Wikipedia, Chronic fatigue syndrome, 10:21, 8-1-07, 3. and, ref: (50) CDC - CFS Basic Overview (PDF file, 31 KB), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/cfs/ and http://www.cdc.gov/cfs/cfssymptomsHCP.htm

For example . . . "Approximately 85% of cases of kyphoscoliosis are of unknown cause" Reference Wintrobe M.M.et.al (editors) (1970) Harrison's Principle's of Internal Medicine 6th edition p.817. McGraw Hill Book Co., New York. (kypho means hunchback, and scoliosis means sideways curvature of the spine, and kyphoscoliosis is the combined feature. see also here

 The Posture Theory 11th edition

Ordering information

Published by the books author M.A. Banfield, Unit 6, No.6 Hartman Ave, Modbury, South Australia 5092. Ph. +61 (08) 82635735, email: posture@chariot.net.au

Book Details:1005 page hardback: 300 illustrations: 180 references: 2,500 index entries.

Cost per book, A $64.50 within Australia, U.S. $57.90 to other countries, and these costs include postage.

You may purchace the book by posting a cheque or money order to the above address (overseas buyers will need to send a bank cheque).

*** Various editions of The Posture Theory are also available in many Australian and overseas public and academic libraries. ***

ISBN 0 9585390 2 2

 For more information about improving posture see http://www.alexander technique.com Other Posture site links: http://www.posturepage.com/posturelinks and http://www.1backpain.com and http://www.icnr.com/cs/cs_29.html

http://www.myvsi.org/index.php?page=posture-resources

For diagrams of good and bad posture in The Washington Post 16-4-2007 see the following website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2007/04/16/GR2007041600761.html?hpid=features1&hp

Also see:http://www.ezdozen.com/health/hypochondria and http://www.fitness-list.com/Top_Health_Fitness_Posture.html and http://www.internet-health-directory.com

The Hypochondria Webpage