Question
Doctor
I am 53, in good general health, although overweight.
About three years ago my wife noticed we were the same height, although I was taller than her when we met.
Today we did a comparison and I am noticeably shorter.
She is a nurse and says I have shrinking discs.
I always thought women were more affected by this than men?
Also, it is surprising because in the last year my fitness has improved-I am doing a lot of stretching and core work and my back is  actually more supple than before. Plus I have lost a few pounds.
This doesnt seem to have stopped the shrinkage?
Is this something to be concerned about or normal? Should I be taking supplements like calcium or glucosamine or something? Should I book a visit to a chiro?
I need to mention again I feel great, but its a guy thing-now I am shorter than my wife!
Thanks for the answers!

Answer
Good Morning Bud,
I just saw your question today, thanks for reaching out to me.  Your question is excellent. So, lets firstly discuss the phenomenon of so called shrinking discs. It's well known that the gravity, body weight and trauma to the spine can increase compressile linear forces to the spinal discs. Over time this can cause local inflammation and lead to loss of the hydrating fluids of the disc as well as deterioration. This phenomenon affects men and woman alike, however may actually affect men to slightly greater degree due to some combination of increased body weight and possibly increased trauma comparatively speaking. You may find it interesting that these thinning or shrinking discs to do not happen uniformly through ought the spine. So, whats going on? And whats more I have seen plenty of patients, men and woman alike in their senior years without these changes at all. So the role age plays in the process is more relevant when there is uncorrected trauma and that continues over time - which can lead to this disc deterioration.  

You should be concerned about it as we all should because as these discs thin they can lead to nerve irritation and can be nasty unrelenting sources of pain.  

As far as supplements there is a phenomenal product called Disc Renewal Plus which is awesome:
Please follow this link to learn more about it:

http://www.backclinicsofcanada.ca/index.php?/backclinics/article/herniated_or_bu

You should definitely see a chiropractor, and if possible visit our world class clinic which has people like you from all over the world seeking out our proprietary system called The High Performance Healing System which was designed for degenerating (shrinking) or bulging discs.
Go to www.backclinicsofcanada.ca to learn more.

Once again, great question.
Please take a moment out to rate my answer and consider to nominate me as expert of the month!

Dr. Ron Nusbaum