SAN JOSE EVENING NEWS
Foot Problems May Be Hereditary, Young San Jose Chiropodist Says
By CARL HEINTZE
Published: June 1958
A young San Jose chiropodist has uncovered evidence which indicates corns, bunions and more serious foot problems may be the result of heredity, rather than acquired defects.
The discovery, if it is borne out by more data, may alter the basic approach to the correction of many ''minor" and some major foot problems, according to Dr. Merton Root .
Dr. Root, after examining about 500 cases of foot difficulties, has concluded that there are about 15 basic hereditary types of foot deformities. Many of these are minor in appearance, but can become major problems for patients later in life.
Dr. Root, who has been specializing in foot disorders of children, has been lecturing on his findings to meetings of chiropodists in Los Angeles, Utah and will soon go to Seattle to explain his theory to foot specialists there.
He believes that since many foot defects are handed down by parents and grandparents, it may someday be possible to predict if a child will have certain basic deformities and to make corrections either before or soon after the child begins to walk.
Although many people consider such foot troubles as corns and bunions to be something to joke about, Dr. Root says that actually such growths are often the result of some malfunction of the foot itself.
Corns, for instance , can be pared, but this, he says, does little to relieve the actual cause of the trouble. Correction of the way in which the foot rests with a person's weight on it is necessary to actually relieve the trouble.
''We have to assume that every woman is going to be subject to one, two or three pregnancies in her lifetime with resulting heavier amounts of weight on her feet," Dr. Root points out.
Most men, at some time in their lives, in the service, for instance, may have to bear heavier than normal amounts of weight on their feet, he adds.
Such times can bring out latent hereditary foot defects, Dr. Root believes.
He adds that improper shoes probably have been considerably overrated as a source of foot trouble. Although the wearing of improper shoes can cause foot trouble, if foot disorders are hereditary, bad shoes only bring out defects already in existence, he points out.
The worst defects in peoples feet, Dr. Root says, originate not in their feet, but in their hips and legs, although the majority of difficulties are in the foot itself. He recommends that all children have a careful foot examination by the time they are five or six to pick up any latent or immediate foot trouble.
Since bones and tissue can still be moulded by corrective devices at this age, he points out, it is possible to correct basic hereditary defects before the advancing years make such permanent correction impossible.
After maturity, corrective devices can help to remove the pain of many such hereditary foot problems, but they cannot actually "cure" them.
For this reason, Dr. Root says, it is incorrect to suppose that children can "grow out" of their foot difficulties.
"They can compensate for them" he says, "but they never grow out of them."
To help other chiropodists and orthopedic specialists check their patients for hereditary foot troubles, Dr. Root has drawn up a series of charts.
The charts indicate the general foot types as they should appear on X-ray plates. About 60 percent of all such defects, he believes, fall into a single category - compensated metatarsus adducto varus.
In mariy cases of this trouble, Dr. Root thinks correction by specialists has consisted only of putting devices in shoes to raise the outer edge of the foot. Actually, he thinks, the trouble is deeper than this and consists of twisted bones in the leg.
He advocates a special heel anchoring system plus other corrective measures to relieve and correct the trouble.
Since about 75 per cent of the U.S. population has difficulties varying from the minor to the serious with its feet, Dr. Root considers his four-year study only a beginning to a more general investigation of hereditary foot defects.
Much still needs to be learned, he says, about what causes such defects, whether, for instance, the way in which a mother carries her child before birth is important, or if there is some basic bone difficulty in the feet and legs which is passed on through generations.
His limited survey has shown that the foot defects of a child also have appeared either in the parent or grandparents or some close relative. In cases where both side of the family have had foot defects, the child is considerably more likely to have them, he finds.
Foot Problems May Be Hereditary, Young San Jose Chiropodist Says
By CARL HEINTZE
A young San Jose chiropodist has uncovered evidence which indicates corns, bunions and more serious foot problems may be the result of heredity, rather than acquired defects.
The discovery, if it is borne out by more data, may alter the basic approach to the correction of many ''minor" and some major foot problems, according to Dr. Merton Root .
Dr. Root, after examining about 500 cases of foot difficulties, has concluded that there are about 15 basic hereditary types of foot deformities. Many of these are minor in appearance, but can become major problems for patients later in life.
Dr. Root, who has been specializing in foot disorders of children, has been lecturing on his findings to meetings of chiropodists in Los Angeles, Utah and will soon go to Seattle to explain his theory to foot specialists there.
He believes that since many foot defects are handed down by parents and grandparents, it may someday be possible to predict if a child will have certain basic deformities and to make corrections either before or soon after the child begins to walk.
Although many people consider such foot troubles as corns and bunions to be something to joke about, Dr. Root says that actually such growths are often the result of some malfunction of the foot itself.
Corns, for instance , can be pared, but this, he says, does little to relieve the actual cause of the trouble. Correction of the way in which the foot rests with a person's weight on it is necessary to actually relieve the trouble.
''We have to assume that every woman is going to be subject to one, two or three pregnancies in her lifetime with resulting heavier amounts of weight on her feet," Dr. Root points out.
Most men, at some time in their lives, in the service, for instance, may have to bear heavier than normal amounts of weight on their feet, he adds.
Such times can bring out latent hereditary foot defects, Dr. Root believes.
He adds that improper shoes probably have been considerably overrated as a source of foot trouble. Although the wearing of improper shoes can cause foot trouble, if foot disorders are hereditary, bad shoes only bring out defects already in existence, he points out.
The worst defects in peoples feet, Dr. Root says, originate not in their feet, but in their hips and legs, although the majority of difficulties are in the foot itself. He recommends that all children have a careful foot examination by the time they are five or six to pick up any latent or immediate foot trouble.
Since bones and tissue can still be moulded by corrective devices at this age, he points out, it is possible to correct basic hereditary defects before the advancing years make such permanent correction impossible.
After maturity, corrective devices can help to remove the pain of many such hereditary foot problems, but they cannot actually "cure" them.
For this reason, Dr. Root says, it is incorrect to suppose that children can "grow out" of their foot difficulties.
"They can compensate for them" he says, "but they never grow out of them."
To help other chiropodists and orthopedic specialists check their patients for hereditary foot troubles, Dr. Root has drawn up a series of charts.
The charts indicate the general foot types as they should appear on X-ray plates. About 60 percent of all such defects, he believes, fall into a single category - compensated metatarsus adducto varus.
In mariy cases of this trouble, Dr. Root thinks correction by specialists has consisted only of putting devices in shoes to raise the outer edge of the foot. Actually, he thinks, the trouble is deeper than this and consists of twisted bones in the leg.
He advocates a special heel anchoring system plus other corrective measures to relieve and correct the trouble.
Since about 75 per cent of the U.S. population has difficulties varying from the minor to the serious with its feet, Dr. Root considers his four-year study only a beginning to a more general investigation of hereditary foot defects.
Much still needs to be learned, he says, about what causes such defects, whether, for instance, the way in which a mother carries her child before birth is important, or if there is some basic bone difficulty in the feet and legs which is passed on through generations.
His limited survey has shown that the foot defects of a child also have appeared either in the parent or grandparents or some close relative. In cases where both side of the family have had foot defects, the child is considerably more likely to have them, he finds.
SAN JOSE EVENING NEWS
Published: June 1958
Foot Problems May Be Hereditary, Young San Jose Chiropodist Says
By CARL HEINTZE
A young San Jose chiropodist has uncovered evidence which indicates corns, bunions and more serious foot problems may be the result of heredity, rather than acquired defects.
The discovery, if it is borne out by more data, may alter the basic approach to the correction of many ''minor" and some major foot problems, according to Dr. Merton Root .
Dr. Root, after examining about 500 cases of foot difficulties, has concluded that there are about 15 basic hereditary types of foot deformities. Many of these are minor in appearance, but can become major problems for patients later in life.
Dr. Root, who has been specializing in foot disorders of children, has been lecturing on his findings to meetings of chiropodists in Los Angeles, Utah and will soon go to Seattle to explain his theory to foot specialists there.
He believes that since many foot defects are handed down by parents and grandparents, it may someday be possible to predict if a child will have certain basic deformities and to make corrections either before or soon after the child begins to walk.
Although many people consider such foot troubles as corns and bunions to be something to joke about, Dr. Root says that actually such growths are often the result of some malfunction of the foot itself.
Corns, for instance , can be pared, but this, he says, does little to relieve the actual cause of the trouble. Correction of the way in which the foot rests with a person's weight on it is necessary to actually relieve the trouble.
''We have to assume that every woman is going to be subject to one, two or three pregnancies in her lifetime with resulting heavier amounts of weight on her feet," Dr. Root points out.
Most men, at some time in their lives, in the service, for instance, may have to bear heavier than normal amounts of weight on their feet, he adds.
Such times can bring out latent hereditary foot defects, Dr. Root believes.
He adds that improper shoes probably have been considerably overrated as a source of foot trouble. Although the wearing of improper shoes can cause foot trouble, if foot disorders are hereditary, bad shoes only bring out defects already in existence, he points out.
The worst defects in peoples feet, Dr. Root says, originate not in their feet, but in their hips and legs, although the majority of difficulties are in the foot itself. He recommends that all children have a careful foot examination by the time they are five or six to pick up any latent or immediate foot trouble.
Since bones and tissue can still be moulded by corrective devices at this age, he points out, it is possible to correct basic hereditary defects before the advancing years make such permanent correction impossible.
After maturity, corrective devices can help to remove the pain of many such hereditary foot problems, but they cannot actually "cure" them.
For this reason, Dr. Root says, it is incorrect to suppose that children can "grow out" of their foot difficulties.
"They can compensate for them" he says, "but they never grow out of them."
To help other chiropodists and orthopedic specialists check their patients for hereditary foot troubles, Dr. Root has drawn up a series of charts.
The charts indicate the general foot types as they should appear on X-ray plates. About 60 percent of all such defects, he believes, fall into a single category - compensated metatarsus adducto varus.
In mariy cases of this trouble, Dr. Root thinks correction by specialists has consisted only of putting devices in shoes to raise the outer edge of the foot. Actually, he thinks, the trouble is deeper than this and consists of twisted bones in the leg.
He advocates a special heel anchoring system plus other corrective measures to relieve and correct the trouble.
Since about 75 per cent of the U.S. population has difficulties varying from the minor to the serious with its feet, Dr. Root considers his four-year study only a beginning to a more general investigation of hereditary foot defects.
Much still needs to be learned, he says, about what causes such defects, whether, for instance, the way in which a mother carries her child before birth is important, or if there is some basic bone difficulty in the feet and legs which is passed on through generations.
His limited survey has shown that the foot defects of a child also have appeared either in the parent or grandparents or some close relative. In cases where both side of the family have had foot defects, the child is considerably more likely to have them, he finds.