Idiopathic scoliosis?

This word has been part of  my vocabulary since I was 13. And up until now, I do not know what it means. Or to be more accurate, I do know what it means but the meaning sheds no further light to one being diagnosed with it.

Idiopathic: no known cause

And that is true of up to 80% of scoliosis patients. Why does the spine curve abnormally in otherwise healthy adolescents? There have been many causes suggested, nutrition, genetic, environmental but none of them were ever proven.

Diagnosis is apparently made via exclusion, once a pronounced curve is observed. The good news of being diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis meant that you have been tested negative for paralytic, neurological, congenital causes. The condition is therefore, unlikely to be complicated by further issues.

However, as one who has been there, and experienced the many questions associated with the cause being unknown, I still wonder when will medical knowledge and technology be able to shed light on the cause of the majority of scoliosis patients. I wonder about this because knowing the cause would likely help future parents and healthcare professionals better prevent it from developing in the young child.