Smoking is a habit that has long been associated with negative wellness implications, from increasing cancer and heart disease risks to strokes. Now a new study says that as well as affecting our bones, our second-hand smoke could affect the bone health of people around us.
Break the habit, not bones
Links between our own smoking and how it impacts on our wellbeing – including our bones – is known, but the recent research by the Harvard School of Public Health reveals a new concern for smokers. Scientists working on the study in China found that pre-menopausal women who breathed second-hand smoke were three times more likely to be diagnosed with osteoporosis than those who were not exposed to passive smoking. In addition, they were 2.6 per cent more likely to suffer from non-spinal fractures if they spent time in smoky environments.
Who’s at risk
Osteoporosis strikes more women because of the drop in hormones after menopause. But this study suggests that passive smoking made such as impact on bone health it struck before the protective effects of oestrogen declined. In a second study at Sweden’s Centre for Bone Research, scientists also found that young people could negatively affect their bone health by smoking. This is normally a time when bone mineral density grows swiftly after tailing off in our 20s. But the research revealed that 18 to 20-year old men who smoked had five per cent less bone mineral density then those of the same age and gender who did not smoke.
A second study by the centre revealed that 24 per cent of smokers fractured their bones but only 14 per cent of non-smokers suffered breakages. The results show that although there are clearly defined risk factors for osteoporosis, like age and gender, smoking can affect bone health across populations, even when the smoke is second-hand. This indicates that giving up could not only improve our bone health but the bone health of our friends and family.