Smoking: A Bad Break for Your Bones

Oct. 17, 2001 -- Need a few more reasons to quit smoking? How about weak bones and a nagging backache? If the risks to your cardiovascular system and the specter of cancer aren't inspiration enough to snuff out that butt, evidence now shows that smoking has negative effects on your entire skeletal system.

When Edward N. Hanley Jr., MD, looked at work-related injuries and smoking, he found that 50% of smokers suffered from low back pain, compared with only 20% of nonsmokers. What's more, the smokers also suffered more from disabling leg cramps and generalized back pain. Hanley is chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C.

The results of that study are right in line with other investigations into smoking's effect on bones.

"Nicotine slows fracture healing, estrogen's effectiveness, and it counteracts the antioxidant properties of vitamins C and E, predisposing smokers to increased hip fracture risk," says Stuart A. Hirsch, MD, chairman of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, in a news release.

Here's what we know so far. Research shows quite clearly that compared with nonsmokers, smokers have:

• slower bone cell production
• faster bone loss (especially postmenopausal women, who are already at risk for osteoporosis)
• more severe vertebral disc degeneration
• weaker spinal ligaments
• longer healing time after a cut, fracture, and surgical incision
• less successful ligament and joint surgery
• more complications following surgery

There's no question that kicking the habit is the way to go. If you or a loved one smoke, no one needs to tell you that -- you already know, and chances are, you've tried to quit. But before you give up and say that you can't do it, try just once more. Today, there are new drugs and new therapies available to ease withdrawal symptoms and make your next attempt to quit your very last.

Ask you doctor for help, and check out WebMD's Smoking Cessation Center today.