How the air we breathe can affect bone health. Back pollution!

While until now we knew that air pollution is a risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, a new study shows that poor air quality makes our bones increasingly fragile. How did you come to this conclusion?

Breathing clean air also means preventing diseases and allergies that may arise. The lower the level of air pollution, the better for the health of the heart and respiratory system. What's more, a study conducted at Columbia University in New York and published in the journal eClinicalMedicine shows that air pollution affects bone health. What did you find out?

More than 160,000 women were analyzed.

During the study, American scientists analyzed more than 160,000 postmenopausal women. The results were unexpected as air pollution was found to lower bone mineral density and increase the risk of bone fractures faster than is usually due to age.

"Nitric oxides contribute, in particular, to bone damage"

Diddier Prada, one of the authors of the study, said in a press release quoted by Popular Mechanics: “Our results confirm that poor air quality may be a risk factor for bone loss, regardless of socioeconomic and demographic factors. “For the first time, we have evidence that nitric oxide contributes to bone damage in particular and that one of the most prone to such injuries is the lumbar spine (lower back).»

In addition, Andrea Baccarrelli, chair of environmental sciences at Columbia University, stressed the importance of clean air. He said that: "It reduces bone damage in postmenopausal women, prevents bone fractures, and reduces the health costs associated with osteoporosis in postmenopausal women."

More data needed

The UCNY study only looked at menopausal women, so scientists say more data is needed to show how air pollution affects different age groups or ethnic groups.