Lumbar foraminal stenosis was suggested to exist as early as the 1800s; however, its importance faded when lumbar canal stenosis attracted attention. Subsequently, it was warned that lumbar foraminal stenosis should be considered as a “hidden zone.” Additionally, the importance of distinguishing foraminal stenosis from canal stenosis was reaffirmed when investigating the cause of lumbar nerve root symptoms. However, this condition is now widely recognized after the development of imaging modalities, such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); nonetheless, the accurate diagnosis of lumbar foraminal stenosis remains challenging. Lumbar foraminal stenosis is most commonly defined as a stenotic lesion extending from the medial edge of the pedicle to the lateral part. Conventional imaging examinations mainly include radiography and myelography; however, these imaging methods are unable to clearly visualize lateral lesions. Therefore, there is limited literature on lumbar foraminal stenosis. Subsequently, selective nerve root injection and CT have become popular, with MRI being the main diagnostic modality. The development of sequences such as 3-dimensional MRI, oblique coronal MRI, and diffusion tensor tractography has improved the diagnostic performance of imaging examinations. Thus, a better understanding of lumbar stenotic lesions among spine surgeons, in combination with more accurate imaging examinations, is expected to improve the accuracy of diagnoses, which in turn will help enhance the quality of treatment.

Diet therapy is an effective method for treating obesity. However, its effectiveness varies from person to person. With that in mind and working towards the implementation of personalized nutrition education, we investigated the relationship between aspects of oriental medicine and genes related to obesity. We analyzed three genes associated with obesity (ADRB 3, UCP 1, and ADRB 2) and classified them as either wild type or mutant. The presence or absence of gene polymorphisms in the obesity-related genes was analyzed by using PCR-CTPP. We conducted a survey using questions that would be comprehensible to people unfamiliar with oriental medicine in order to assess their body constitution, by diagnosing two elements of body constitution according to oriental medical theory (stomach heat [wei re] and spleen vacuity [pi xu]). The study was conducted in 81 women and 28 men (mean age, 42.6 years ; mean BMI, 22.3 kg/m²). Among them, 7 participants were underweight, 83 were of normal weight, and 19 were overweight. The results of the analysis revealed that BMI was highest in those with stomach heat and lowest in subjects with spleen vacuity. Wild type ADRB 3 increased susceptibility to stomach heat, which led to higher body weight ; whereas, the presence of mutated ADRB 3 increased the likelihood of spleen vacuity, which led to lower body weight. These results suggest that by making comprehensive assessments of body characteristics, it is possible to identify individuals with a predisposition to obesity or low body weight.