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Wednesday,
April 11, 2001
Smoking reduces Vitamins - Weaker Bones
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cigarette smoking, especially after
menopause, increases a woman's risk of breaking a hip, study findings
suggest. But researchers also report that drinking alcohol may
decrease the risk of fracture.
- 2001/04/11
Smoking After Menopause Linked to Fracture Risk NEW YORK (Reuters
Health) - Cigarette smoking, especially after menopause, increases
a woman's risk of breaking a hip, study findings suggest. But
researchers also report that drinking alcohol may decrease the
risk of fracture. Women who smoke are often considered to have
a higher risk of hip fracture and reduced bone mass than nonsmokers,
but the evidence for the link is mixed, according to a team of
researchers led by Dr. John A. Baron, of Dartmouth Medical School
in Hanover, New Hampshire. And although moderate drinkers have
been shown to have greater bone density than nondrinkers, whether
moderate drinking reduces the risk of fracture is uncertain, the
authors note in the April 9th issue of the Archives of Internal
Medicine (news - web sites). In the study, Baron's team compared
1,328 postmenopausal Swedish women who had broken a hip with a
group of similarly aged women who had not had a fracture. Each
of the women filled out a questionnaire that asked about lifestyle
and health. The risk of hip fracture was about 35% higher in current
smokers than in women who had never smoked, the investigators
found. Former smokers had a 15% increased risk. The results took
into account women's use of hormone replacement therapy and obesity.
The number of cigarettes a woman smoked was not strongly related
to the risk of fracture, but the number of years spent smoking
did increase the risk, the report indicates. For every 5 years
smoked, the risk increased 6%. Smoking after menopause increased
the risk of fracture more than smoking before menopause, according
to Baron and colleagues. Women who smoked for 11 years after menopause
had the same fracture risk as those who had smoked for 24 years
before menopause. The report does provide some good news for women
who have been able to kick the habit. Once women quit smoking,
the risk of fracture continued to decline the longer they were
able to stay tobacco-free. For every 5 years off cigarettes, the
fracture risk dropped 2%, and after 15 years off cigarettes, there
was no association with hip fracture. ``Cigarette smoking--especially
late in life--is harmful to women with regard to postmenopausal
hip fracture,'' the authors conclude. ``In contrast, moderate
alcohol intake does not appear to increase the incidence of hip
fracture and may modestly decrease it,'' they write. The researchers
found that women who reported consuming alcoholic beverages were
about 20% less likely to have a hip fracture than nondrinkers.
Baron and his colleagues did not investigate possible explanations
for the apparent benefits of drinking and risks of smoking. They
speculate that smoking may reduce the production of the hormone
estrogen. Another possibility, according to the report, is that
smoking reduces levels of other hormones and vitamins that could
result in weaker bones. As for alcohol, the research team points
out that some studies have shown that alcohol may increase bone
density in postmenopausal women. SOURCE: Archives of Internal
Medicine 2001;161:983-988.
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