Smog May Harm Bones In Older Adults: Study

(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Smog may harm bones in older adults: study

Besides respiratory infections, regular exposure to air pollution, especially the sooty black material emitted from gas and diesel engines, may also increase the risk of bone fractures, finds a study

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Nov, 2017 ) :Besides respiratory infections, regular exposure to air pollution, especially the sooty black material emitted from gas and diesel engines, may also increase the risk of bone fractures, finds a study.

Researchers analysed data on 9.2 million Medicare enrolls in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic area who had been hospitalized for fractures from 2003 to 2010, according to the study published in The Lancet Planetary Health.

The investigators found that even a small increase in exposure to air pollution particulate matter called PM2.5 was associated with an increase in fractures among older adults. PM2.5 is the label for fine inhalable particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, Health news reported.

The researchers also examined eight years of follow-up among 692 middle-aged, low-income adults in the Boston health survey.

The findings showed that people who lived in areas with higher levels of PM2.5 and black carbon a type of air pollution from vehicle exhaust had lower levels of an important calcium and bone-related hormone, and greater decreases in bone mineral density than did those exposed to lower levels of the two pollutants.

�Decades of careful research has documented the health risks of air pollution, from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases to cancer and impaired cognition [thinking skills], and now osteoporosis,� said senior author Dr. Andrea Baccarelli. �Among the many benefits of clean air, our research suggests, are improved bone health and a way to prevent bone fractures,� he said.