To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: DG DISPATCH - AAOS: Link Found Between Smoking, Lower Back Pain URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/1F3EF2.htm Doctor's Guide March 4, 2001
By Cameron Johnston Special to DG News
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- March 4, 2001 -- A population-based study that stretched over more than 50 years has concluded that the dangers of smoking may extend well beyond the lungs and cardiovascular system to the bones and joints of the lower back.
Data do not prove conclusively that smoking increases the risk of lower back pain, but the correlation does have some physiological basis, researchers say.
The study followed more than 1,300 physicians who graduated from Johns-Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, Maryland, between 1947 and 1964. Participants answered a yearly questionnaire with specific questions relating to health factors such as smoking habits, incidence of lower back pain, hypertension, cholesterol levels and blood pressure.
"The development of lower back pain is significantly correlated with a prior history of smoking," Dr. Uri Ahn and colleagues from Johns-Hopkins said in a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, in San Francisco, California.
Specifically, the three spinal conditions that seemed to show a relationship with a prior history of smoking were degenerative spondylosis, spondylolisthesis and spinal stenosis. The lumbar discs were not affected.
The questionnaire asked respondents to itemize their smoking history, and any history of lower back pain, which was analyzed for a correlation. It was found that there were correlations between smoking, hypertension, and elevated LDL cholesterol.
The relative risk between lumbar pain and a prior history of smoking was 1.25. No correlation was found between disc injury or complaints of degenerative disc.
The positive association between low back spondylosis and smoking was RR=1.85, whereas the relative risk between spondylosis and hypertension was only RR=1.50, and hyperlipidemia was RR=1.17. All were statistically significant. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.