Air Pollution Speeds Up Bone Loss From Osteoporosis: Study

 

AIR POLLUTION IN DELHI

These effects are believed to happen through bone cell death by way of oxidative damage and other mechanisms, they said.

Our findings confirm that poor air quality may be a risk factor for bone loss, independent of socioeconomic or demographic factors. For the first time, we have evidence that nitrogen oxides, in particular, are a major contributor to bone damage and that the lumbar spine is one of the most susceptible sites of this damage,” said study first author Diddier Prada, an associate research scientist at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

Study lead author Andrea Baccarelli, from Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, noted that improvements in air pollution exposure, particularly nitrogen oxides, will reduce bone damage in postmenopausal women, prevent bone fractures, and reduce the health cost burden associated with osteoporosis among postmenopausal women.

Further efforts should focus on detecting those at higher risk of air pollution-related bone damage, Andrea Baccarelli said.

Car and truck exhaust is a major source of nitrous oxides, as are the emissions from electrical power generation plants. Osteoporosis impacts women more than men, with 80 per cent of the estimated 10 million Americans with osteoporosis being women, the researchers said.

Postmenopausal women are at higher risk, with one in two women over 50 experiencing a bone fracture because of osteoporosis, they said