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Las conversaciones públicas sobre valores proliferan en este cambio de época e interpelan de una manera particular al diálogo académico en instituciones de identidad cristiana. Estos debates se ven atravesados por nuevos proyectos legislativos, políticas públicas, movimientos sociales, casos impactantes, marchas y manifestaciones, noticias y campañas, que van determinando los consensos y disensos sobre temas neurálgicos, frecuentemente generando contextos de polarización. El diálogo se convierte en un desafío arduo, y su consecución, en altamente improbable: las metáforas bélicas afloran para dar cuenta de luchas y batallas culturales en las que se juega el futuro de la humanidad. Para desarrollar un diálogo intelectual enriquecedor, propio de la tradición universitaria y del pensamiento social cristiano —“cultura del encuentro”, en términos del Papa Francisco— es necesario asumir la complejidad de estas conversaciones, profundizar en sus elementos de trasfondo y conocer sus mecanismos internos. Para esto, se propone un modelo de tres pasos: comprender la situación de comunicación, determinar y cultivar la legitimidad del enunciador, y desarrollar un discurso público que exprese la sinfonía de los propios valores. En el núcleo de esta tarea se ubica la necesidad de descubrir cuáles son las palabras que nos permiten entrar en diálogo con nuestros conciudadanos y cuáles funcionan como baches, grietas o muros que —independientemente de los argumentos propuestos¬— distancian y rompen los pactos de colaboración comunicativa. El desafío nos sitúa en una encrucijada: promover una cultura del diálogo o sucumbir a una espiral de agresiones y descalificaciones que amenaza, cada vez más, tanto la vida universitaria como la convivencia social.

Objectives. To assess the prevalences across Europe of radiological indices of degenerative inter-vertebral disc disease (DDD); and to quantify their associations with, age, sex, physical anthropometry, areal BMD (aBMD) and change in aBMD with time. Methods. In the population-based European Prospective Osteoporosis Study, 27 age-stratified samples of men and women from across the continent aged 50+ years had standardized lateral radiographs of the lumbar and thoracic spine to evaluate the severity of DDD, using the Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) scale. Measurements of anterior, mid-body and posterior vertebral heights on all assessed vertebrae from T4 to L4 were used to generate indices of end-plate curvature. Results. Images from 10 132 participants (56% female, mean age 63.9 years) passed quality checks. Overall, 47% of men and women had DDD grade 3 or more in the lumbar spine and 36% in both thoracic and lumbar spine. Risk ratios for DDD grades 3 and 4, adjusted for age and anthropometric determinants, varied across a three-fold range between centres, yet prevalences were highly correlated in men and women. DDD was associated with flattened, non-ovoid inter-vertebral disc spaces. KL grade 4 and loss of inter-vertebral disc space were associated with higher spine aBMD. Conclusion. KL grades 3 and 4 are often used clinically to categorize radiological DDD. Highly variable European prevalences of radiologically defined DDD grades 3+ along with the large effects of age may have growing and geographically unequal health and economic impacts as the population ages. These data encourage further studies of potential genetic and environmental causes. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

Background: Polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene have been implicated in the genetic regulation of bone mineral density (BMD). However, the clinical impact of these variants remains unclear. Objective: To evaluate the relation between VDR polymorphisms, BMD, and fractures. Design: Prospective multicenter large-scale association study. Setting: The Genetic Markers for Osteoporosis consortium, involving 9 European research teams. Participants: 26 242 participants (18 405 women). Measurements: Cdx2 promoter, FokI, BsmI, ApaI, and TaqI polymorphisms; BMD at the femoral neck and the lumbar spine by dual x-ray absorptiometry; and fractures. Results: Comparisons of BMD at the lumbar spine and femoral neck showed nonsignificant differences less than 0.011 g/cm2 for any genotype with or without adjustments. A total of 6067 participants reported a history of fracture, and 2088 had vertebral fractures. For all VDR alleles, odds ratios for fractures were very close to 1.00 (range, 0.98 to 1.02) and collectively the 95% CIs ranged from 0.94 (lowest) to 1.07 (highest). For vertebral fractures, we observed a 9% (95% CI, 0% to 18%; P = 0.039) risk reduction for the Cdx2 A-allele (13% risk reduction in a dominant model). Limitations: The authors analyzed only selected VDR polymorphisms. Heterogeneity was detected in some analyses and may reflect some differences in collection of fracture data across cohorts. Not all fractures were related to osteoporosis. Conclusions: The FokI, BsmI, ApaI, and TaqI VDR polymorphisms are not associated with BMD or with fractures, but the Cdx2 polymorphism may be associated with risk for vertebral fractures.

Summary: In 27 centres across Europe, the prevalence of deforming spinal Scheuermann’s disease in age-stratified population-based samples of over 10,000 men and women aged 50+ averaged 8 % in each sex, but was highly variable between centres. Low DXA BMD was un-associated with Scheuermann’s, helping the differential diagnosis from osteoporosis. Introduction: This study aims to assess the prevalence of Scheuermann’s disease of the spine across Europe in men and women over 50 years of age, to quantitate its association with bone mineral density (BMD) and to assess its role as a confounder for the radiographic diagnosis of osteoporotic fracture. Methods: In 27 centres participating in the population-based European Vertebral Osteoporosis Study (EVOS), standardised lateral radiographs of the lumbar and of the thoracic spine from T4 to L4 were assessed in all those of adequate quality. The presence of Scheuermann’s disease, a confounder for prevalent fracture in later life, was defined by the presence of at least one Schmorl’s node or irregular endplate together with kyphosis (sagittal Cobb angle >40° between T4 and T12) or a wedged-shaped vertebral body. Alternatively, the (rare) Edgren-Vaino sign was taken as diagnostic. The 6-point-per-vertebral-body (13 vertebrae) method was used to assess osteoporotic vertebral shape and fracture caseness. DXA BMD of the L2–L4 and femoral neck regions was measured in subsets. We also assessed the presence of Scheuermann’s by alternative published algorithms when these used the radiographic signs we assessed. Results: Vertebral radiographic images from 4486 men and 5655 women passed all quality checks. Prevalence of Scheuermann’s varied considerably between centres, and based on random effect modelling, the overall European prevalence using our method was 8 % with no significant difference between sexes. The highest prevalences were seen in Germany, Sweden, the UK and France and low prevalences were seen in Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Centre-level prevalences in men and women were highly correlated. Scheuermann’s was not associated with BMD of the spine or hip. Conclusions: Since most of the variation in population impact of Scheuermann’s was unaccounted for by the radiological and anthropometric data, the search for new genetic and environmental determinants of this disease is encouraged. © 2015, International Osteoporosis Foundation and National Osteoporosis Foundation.

The presence of a prevalent vertebral deformity increases the risk of a future vertebral fracture. The aim of this study was to determine whether certain characteristics of the prevalent deformity, including its shape and location in the spine, influenced this effect. The 3100 men and 3500 women who took part in this analysis were recruited from population registers for participation in the European Prospective Osteoporosis Study (EPOS). Subjects had lateral thoracic and lumbar spine x-rays at baseline, and again after a mean interval of 3.8 years. Prevalent morphometric vertebral deformities on the baseline film were identified by the McCloskey-Kanis method. Incident fractures were defined as vertebrae that also satisfied the McCloskey-Kanis criterion for prevalent deformities on the follow-up film, and in addition had at least one height (anterior, mid, or posterior) which had reduced by at least 20% between films. Poisson regression was used to assess the association between various characteristics of the prevalent deformity and the risk of an incident vertebral fracture, with generalised estimating equations used to allow for the fact that each subject contributed several vertebrae to the analysis. The risk of an incident fracture increased with the number of prevalent deformities: relative risk (RR) for one prevalent deformity 3.2 (95% confidence interval (CI); 2.1, 4.8); 9.8 (95% CI;6.1, 15.8) for 2; and 23.3 (95% CI;15.3, 35.4) for 3 or more. Relative risks differed significantly according to the shape of the prevalent deformity, ranging from 5.9 (95% CI; 4.1, 8.6) if the anterior and mid heights were reduced to 1.6 (95% CI;0.8, 3.2) if the posterior and mid heights were reduced. Risks varied also according to the severity of the deformity. There were fivefold differences in relative risk of incident fracture depending on the location of the prevalent deformity within the spine. Compared to vertebrae in subjects with no deformities at baseline, the relative risk of an incident fracture within three vertebrae of a prevalent deformity was greater (7.7 (95% CI;5.6, 10.5)) than the risk in more distant vertebrae (4.0 (95% CI;2.6, 6.0)). In summary, the risk of a subsequent vertebral fracture in individuals with preexisting deformities is importantly influenced by the characteristics of these deformities. © 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Variations in vertebral deformity prevalence in Europe are statistically dependent on population differences in bone density: the EVOS Study.

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Bone density varies between eleven populations participating in the European Prospective Osteoporosis Study (EPOS).