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Two new studies show that older Americans who smoke increase their chances for hip fractures and dental problems.
Although some past investigations have examined the relationship of smoking and bone density, most have not assessed the effect of smoking on the hip, the most serious place for fractures among the elderly.
In this study, supported by the NIH’s National Institute on Aging, scientists at the University of California evaluated the smoking behavior of 544 men and 822 women in the early 1970’s, and then evaluated their bone density in four places — the spine, two places on the arm, and the hip — 16 years later.
The scientists found both men and women who smoked had significantly lower hip bone density than nonsmokers. However, bone density in the arm and the spine did not differ between smokers and nonsmokers. The scientists also discovered that the greater number of cigarettes that women smoked, the greater the loss of bone.
“The effect of smoking on the loss of bone density in the hip is very strong, and is independent of the effect of other factors that could cause bone loss such as anti-hypertensive drugs, age, alcohol, the lack of
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