Smoking Linked to Lower Back Pain

(HealthScout) -- If you smoke, your cigarettes may be to blame for more than just that hacking cough.

New research suggests the unhealthy habit also may be linked to lower back pain and disease.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins Hospital this week presented a 53-year study of risk factors for lower back disease at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.

Led by Dr. Nicholas U. Ahn, the hospital's chief resident of orthopedic surgery, the study analyzed annual medical records and questionnaires from 1,337 men and women who graduated from Johns Hopkins Medical School between 1948 and 1964.

The study focused on risk factors for lumbar atherosclerosis, blockage of blood vessels in the back due to fatty plaque deposits. The risk factors include smoking, diabetes, hypertension and coronary artery disease. The study also looked for lumbar spine disease, such as lower back pain, lumbar spondylosis (stress fracture of a lumbar bone) and spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal).

"The odds of getting back pain or lumbar disk disease in someone who smoked were 1.87 times [greater than] the odds of getting back pain in someone who did not smoke," says Ahn. The odds for hypertension were 1.25 times greater, and the odds for elevated blood fats were 1.18 greater.

"When you smoke or when you have high cholesterol, the blood vessels become clogged with fatty, cholesterol-laden lesions," says Ahn. Small vessels are affected first, including the vessels that supply the lumbar spine, he says.

Ahn says the fact that risk factors for atherosclerosis precede the onset of back pain suggests that atherosclerosis is linked to back pain.

Other findings support the idea that smoking raises the risk of back pain, says Dr. Edward N. Hanley, chairman of orthopedic surgery at the Carolinas Medical Center.

"There's good evidence that the blood supply to the disks in your spine is marginal, and that at about the age of 20, it diminishes dramatically just because of nature's design," says Hanley. "So you're living with a fragile nutritional environment anyway, and if you do anything to decrease that, you end up with poor nutrient supply to the disks in your back. In essence, it's the same as having poor blood supply to your heart, which results in a heart attack."

While genetics play a role in whether you'll develop back pain, Ahn says you can reduce your risk of back problems.

"Controlling blood pressure, decreasing fat in your diet and not smoking can all decrease one's overall risk of getting back pain significantly," he says.

The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons provides information about low back pain, as well as exercises.

Check these nutritional tips to avoid weight gain when you quit smoking.

Reference Source 99

For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use
PreventDisease.com's "Quick Prevention Resources".