A study found that increased exposure to air pollutants such as nitrous oxides is linked to bone deterioration in postmenopausal women.
Nitrous oxides (NO), which are twice as harmful to the area as normal ageing, were shown to have the greatest impact on the lumbar spine, according to research from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in the US.
Past research on specific contaminants has revealed negative impacts on older people’s fracture risk, osteoporosis risk, and bone mineral density.
What is the relationship between air pollution and bones?
The most recent study, which was released in the journal e clinical medicine, is the first to investigate the relationship between air pollution and bone outcomes, specifically in postmenopausal women. It is also the first to investigate the impacts of air pollution mixes.
The researchers examined information obtained from the Women’s Health Initiative study, which included 161,808 (more than 1.6 lahks) postmenopausal women from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Based on the participants’ residential addresses, they calculated their exposure to air pollution (PM10, NO, NO2, and SO2). Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by the team using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at enrolment as well as during follow-up visits at years one, three, and six.
According to the researchers, the annual effects of ageing on any of the analysed anatomical sites would be approximately double the annual effects of nitrogen oxides on lumbar spine BMD, which would amount to a decrease of 1.22 per cent.
According to them, these effects are thought to be brought on by oxidative damage and other mechanisms that lead to the death of bone cells. Diddier Prada, an associate research scientist at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and the study’s first author, said, “Our findings demonstrate that poor air quality may be a risk factor for bone loss, independent of socioeconomic or demographic characteristics.
Also, read- What is menopause?
