Air Pollution Accelerates Bone Loss In Osteoporosis

Older people’s fracture risk, osteoporosis risk, and bone mineral density may be negatively impacted by particular contaminants, according to air pollution earlier studies

Washington: An investigation found that postmenopausal women who were exposed to higher levels of air pollutants such nitrous oxides had damaged bones.

Scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, US, found that the effects were most evident on the lumbar spine, with nitrous oxides (NO) twice as damaging to the area as in normal ageing.Previous studies on individual pollutants have suggested adverse effects on bone mineral density, osteoporosis risk, and fractures in older individuals.

The latest research, published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, is the first to explore the connection between air pollution and bone mineral density specifically in postmenopausal women, and the first to explore the effects of air pollution mixtures on bone outcomes.

The researchers examined information obtained from the Women’s Health Initiative study, which included 161,808 (more than 1.6 lakh) postmenopausal women from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.Based on the participants’ residential locations, 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 yearly effects of ageing on any of the analysed anatomical locations would be approximately double the annual effects of nitrogen oxides on lumbar spine BMD, amounting to decreases of 1.22 percent annually.

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According to them, these effects are thought to be brought on by oxidative damage and other processes 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, stated, “Our findings demonstrate that poor air quality may be a risk factor for bone loss, regardless of socioeconomic or demographic characteristics.

For the first time, there is proof that nitrogen oxides, in particular, play a significant role in bone deterioration, with the lumbar spine being one of the most vulnerable locations.

Andrea Baccarelli, the study’s primary author from Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, noted that lowering postmenopausal women’s exposure to air pollution, particularly nitrogen oxides, will prevent bone fractures, lessen bone damage, and lower the financial burden of osteoporosis on their health systems.”Further efforts should concentrate on identifying people at increased risk of bone injury connected to air pollution,” Baccarelli added.

Nitrous oxides are mostly produced by the exhaust of cars and trucks as well as by the emissions of power plants.Women are more affected by osteoporosis than males, with women making up 80% of the estimated 10 million Americans who have the disease, according to the study.One in two women over the age of 50 experience a bone fracture as a result of osteoporosis, they said, placing postmenopausal women at increased risk.