The risk of osteoporosis increases with age and is especially prevalent in postmenopausal women.
Here, data on a heterogeneous group of 9,041 postmenopausal women were collected over 6 years, with researchers specifically examining bone mineral density : an indirect indicator of osteoporosis and risk of fractures. Using home addresses for estimates of nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and PM10 particulates (pollution less than 10 micrometers, the diameter of a red blood cell), researchers found that when pollution increased, bone mineral density decreased all bone areas of the body, including the neck, spine and hip. "Our findings confirm that poor air quality can be a risk factor for bone loss, regardless of socio-economic or demographic factors," says biomedical scientist Diddier Prada of Columbia University in New York. Previous studies have shown an association between worsening air pollution and a higher risk of bone fractures, as well as increased bone loss over time.
This research adds data on postmenopausal women in particular and on different mixes of air pollution. In particular, Prada and colleagues highlighted the link between nitrogen and the spine. A 10 percent jump in this type of pollution in 3 years was associated with an average annual loss of 1.22 percent of the bone mineral density of the lumbar spine, double the amount calculated by the team from normal aging. According to the researchers, this is most likely due to bone cell death caused by mechanisms that include oxidative stress , in which toxic molecules from the environment cause harm to the body. "For the first time, we have evidence that nitrogen oxides, in particular, contribute significantly to bone damage and that the lumbar spine is one of the most susceptible sites of this damage," says Prada. The study alone is not enough to prove a causal relationship - that air pollution is certainly leading to bone loss - but considering the amount of research that is being formed, it seems an increasingly plausible hypothesis. It is also worth mentioning that while this particular study examined postmenopausal women, the participants involved covered a wide range of ethnic groups, places, lifestyles and socio-economic contexts, making pollution levels more likely to be, In fact, the underlying cause of bone loss. Researchers want to see further efforts made to reduce air pollution - traffic is one of the leading producers of nitrogen oxides, for example - and to identify people who might be more vulnerable (including those with osteoporosis). "Improvements in exposure to air pollution, particularly nitrogen oxides, will reduce bone damage in postmenopausal women, prevent bone fractures and reduce the burden of health costs associated with osteoporosis among postmenopausal women"says epigeneticist Andrea Baccarelli of Columbia University.
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