Smoking And Bone Health - How Are They Related?

The toxins disrupt the hormonal balance, like that of estrogen required by bones for staying healthy. Your liver produces more estrogen-destroying enzymes, which also leads to bone loss. It makes the loss of bones even worse in the menopausal years. Smoking incites other bone-damaging changes, such as raised levels of the cortisol hormone, which leads to the breakdown of bone. Smoking also prevents the calcitonin hormone, which promotes building up of bones. If you start encountering bone-related issues, your orthopedic would advise you to quit smoking as the first step of the treatment.

Smoking reduces the amount of calcium your bones absorb. Vitamin D assists bones in absorbing calcium, but smoking conflicts with the way one's body utilizes this vitamin D, which means less calcium is available. As a consequence, your bones start to get fragile. Smoking decreases estrogen levels in both women and men. Estrogen is essential as it stimulates the bones to retain calcium and other vital minerals that make them tough. Eating healthy herbs can help you get rid of the harmful effects of smoking.

If you have started smoking at an early age - during your bone-development years, it makes the bone mass at a lower level. This puts you at risk for osteoporosis in later years. Smoking after age 30 promotes loss of bone volume that is the loss of bone mass occurs 2 times faster. Your whole body loses bone mass, but the hip, spine, and wrist are the majorly affected. The more you smoke, the higher is your risk for osteoporosis so reduce it or quit entirely.

For smokers, their calcium content degenerates such that they are exposed to the risk of bone fracture. The spine and the hips are particularly at risk for a fracture and can later have links to osteoporosis when individuals continue to smoke. Talk to your doctor to find out if you are at risk and take the necessary steps. A healthy lifestyle combined with calcium supplements to make up for the deficiency can be of help.