Background and Aim: Lumbar DisK Degeneration (LDD) is one of the most important causes of pain in the lower back, lack of physical activity, overweight, and obesity have been regarded as the most significant factors in its occurrence. The present study was conducted with the aim of evaluation of body mass index, abdominal obesity and physical activity level in patients undergoing lumbar disk degeneration surgery. Methods and Materials/Patients: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 130 adult patients (20 to 77 years old) candidates for surgery admitted to the Poursina Hospital in Rasht City, Iran in 2016 due to degenerative lumbar vertebrae diseases. After obtaining the patients' consent, their abdominal circumference, weight, and height were measured by the researcher. The Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (RAPA) questionnaire was used to assess the level of physical activity of the subjects and questions about professional sports were asked by the researchers. SPSS 16 was used to analyze the study findings. The Chi-square test and Fisher exact test were applied to examine the relationship between qualitative data. Results: The mean±SD BMI values in males and females were 26.63±4.47 and 28.96±4.45 kg/ m 2 , respectively. Also, the mean±SD values of abdominal circumference in men and women were 99.8±13.35 cm and 107.44±17.58 cm, respectively. The majority of the people (88.5%), including 71.7% of men and 97.6% of women had suboptimal physical activity, and a small percentage of samples (10.8%) reported previous professional exercises Conclusion: The present study results indicate the lack of activity level, high BMI and abdominal obesity in our patients. Further study is required to investigate the significant relationship between BMI and degenerative diseases.

Background and Aim: There is no consensus over the relationship between lipid profiles and atherosclerosis risk factors with lumbar disc degeneration. This study aims to investigate the lipid profile and some risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in patients undergoing surgery for lumbar disc degeneration. Methods and Materials/Patients: A correlational cross-sectional study was carried out on all candidates for lumbar disc degenerative diseases surgery at Poursina Hospital in Rasht City, Iran from July to December 2017 (130 adult patients aged 20-77 years). The obtained data were collected from the patients' medical file or asking them after obtaining written informed consent. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS V. 16 by performing the Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests to examine the relationship between the study variables. The significance level was set at P≤0.05 for all tests. Results: 60.8% of subjects had comorbid diseases, mostly hyperlipidemia, and hypertension. Their mean low-density lipoprotein and triglyceride levels were higher than normal and their mean total cholesterol was at borderline. Also, 74.6% and 84.6% of the patients had Body Mass Index and abdominal circumference higher than the normal range. Physical activity in 88.5% of subjects was below the desired level and 79.2% of the patients did not report a history of smoking. Inferential findings indicated a significant relationship between dyslipidemia and various types of lumbar disc degenerative diseases (P<0.05). Conclusion: The study showed dyslipidemia and some other risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, including obesity and inactivity in patients with lumbar disc degenerative disease. More research is needed to assess other atherosclerosis risk factors and types of lipids with respect to disc degenerative diseases.

Background and Aim: Previous studies have reported the important effect of age, sex, heredity, and occupational status on intervertebral degenerative dick diseases, which are among the most important causes of low back pain. However, their results are not always so conclusive. This study was performed to investigate the demographic characteristics and family history of lumbar problems in patients with lumbar degenerative dick diseases due to causes other than acute trauma. Methods and Materials/Patients: This cross-sectional descriptive study included patients without acute trauma who were candidates for surgery of lumbar degenerative dick diseases from 2017 to 2018 in the only state hospital admitting these patients in Rasht, Iran. The data related to the disease were obtained from the patients' medical records. Their demographic characteristics and family history of lumbar vertebrae diseases in their relatives were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire through face-to-face interview by the researcher. The data were analyzed using SPSS (Version 16). Descriptive statistics and the chi-square test were conducted at a significance level of 0.05. Results: More than half of the patients were in their 4th to 6th decades of life, and the number of men was 1.8 times as women. The frequency of herniated discs was more than that of both spinal canal stenosis and spondylolisthesis, and most people had no history of low back trauma. The duration of disease in 73% of the patients was more than 1 year and the mean duration was about 4.5 years. More than half of the patients reported problems with the lumbar vertebrae in at least 1 of their first-degree relatives. About one-third of the patients reported a history of vertebrae surgery in their first-degree relatives and the maximum number of reported surgeries in 1 family was 5. Most of the patients were low-literate and illiterate, and about one-third of the patients were workers/farmers. More than one-third of them were housewives and the number of patients working in administrative and driving jobs was very low. There was no significant relationship between study variables and the type of degenerative problems of the lumbar vertebrae. Conclusion: These findings showed similarities with previous studies in terms of age groups, occupational status, and a history of family lumbar problems in patients with lumbar degenerative disc diseases.