Smoking Inhibits Estrogen, Fracture Healing, Bone Formation.

2001 MAR 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Smoking impairs the health of muscles, bones, and joints, orthopaedic surgeons report.

"It decreases people's ability to form bone, putting them at risk for osteoporosis. Nicotine also lessens the benefits of estrogen," said Scott B. Porter, MD, co-author of the study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Cigarette smoking accelerates the bone loss of osteporotic postmenopausal women, noted co-author Edward N. Hanley Jr., MD, chairman, department of orthopaedic surgery, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina.

"Women who smoke have significantly less bone mass, which may be due in part to nicotine's inhibition of estrogen," said Hanley. "Male smokers also are at increased risk of developing osteoporosis because smoking affects the production of bone cells."

For the study, the two orthopaedic surgeons conducted a literature review of scientific data on the relationship between smoking and musculoskeletal disease ("The musculoskeletal effects of smoking," J Amer Acad Orthopaed Surg, 2001).

Each year, more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. can be attributed to smoking. "The effects of smoking on a person's cardiovascular health are well documented," said Porter. And of course, tobacco is linked to numerous cancers, as well. "What many smokers may not realize is that smoking also has a negative impact on musculoskeletal ...