As if smoking wasn't bad enough, a new study strengthens the link between smoking and lower back pain, and also sheds light on the causes of degenerative lumbar spine problems.
The study on smoking and low back pain, which prospectively examined 1,337 physicians who graduated from Johns Hopkins University between 1948 and 1964, followed some participants for more than 50 years. Researchers discovered that smoking history, hypertension and coronary artery disease—all of which are risk factors for atherosclerosis, or occlusion of the arteries—were significantly associated with the development of low back pain.
The study results, which were reported at the 2001 annual meeting of the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons in San Francisco, lend support to the theory that the mechanism of injury in low back pain is damage to the vascular structures of the discs and joints.
The data may still be a little fuzzy, but the message is clear. As reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, smokers who suffer from back pain have every reason to kick the habit. Giving up cigarettes probably won't immediately banish back pain, but it just might help. Of course, quitting smoking will also dramatically lower the risk of heart disease, cancer, and a host of other diseases. Back pain or no, that's a great comfort.
exerpts from articles by Donald J. Frisco, MD, and Chris Woolston
CONSUMER HEALTH INTERACTIVE
see abstract here
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