You may be looking for ways to improve your health. Perhaps you are concerned that your lifestyle choices may be contributing to the development of a disease later on in your life. Smoking is a lifestyle factor that can seriously harm your health and can increase your chances of developing osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis
Bones become weak and brittle when you a have osteoporosis. Your weakened bones are much more susceptible to fractures, and bones can break from even mild stressors including coughing or bending over. The Mayo Clinic states that your bones can develop osteoporosis when you do not take in enough calcium, or if your body does not absorb calcium. Vitamin D helps keep bones strong and is necessary for calcium to be absorbed. If you are deficient in vitamin D, your bone mass may decrease. When you are young, new bone is constantly replacing old bone that is being broken down and reabsorbed; however, you will reach your peak bone mass by the age of 30. After age 30, old bone is broken down and reabsorbed faster than you are generating new bone. The more bone mass you have at age 30, the less risk you have of developing osteoporosis.
Smoking and Osteoporosis
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 46 million Americans were cigarette smokers in 2009. Cigarette smoke contains thousands of chemicals, and according to the American Lung Association 69 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Smoking decreases your bone mass. The NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National Resource Center states that it is unclear whether osteoporosis is caused from smoking itself or from other risk factors common among smokers. Many smokers are thinner than non-smokers, less physically active, and may not eat food high in calcium and other minerals. Smoking may cause a decrease in estrogen production and reduce the calcium that the intestines absorb, which may cause a decrease in bone mass in women, the Mayo Clinic states.
Other Risk Factors
In addition to smoking, if you are thin or postmenopausal you may also be at increased risk for osteoporosis. If you do not take in enough calcium in your diet, drink too much alcohol, and you don't exercise you may develop osteoporosis. Certain medications, including those for asthma, seizures, thyroid disorders and lupus, also increase the risk.
Expert Insight
According to Peter Wong, Jemma Christie and John Wark in a study they published in the September 2007 issue of "Clinical Science," smoking remains a lifestyle risk factor for osteoporosis, but how smoking affects bone mass is poorly understood. The effect of smoking on decreasing bone density may be reversible, but more research is necessary. The researchers say that smoking decreases bone density at the major fracture sites including the hip, lumbar spine and forearm.
