Smoking also cause back pain
A Finnish research was based on 81 previous studies confirmed that snuff addicts are more likely to suffer discomfort in the lower back. Teens, the most affected
After reviewing existing research, Finnish experts concluded that smoking is “modestly” associated with the risk of pain in the lumbar spine and the effects would be “at least partly reversible.”
These findings were published in the January issue of American Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Rahman Shiri, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, and colleagues wanted to know if smoking increases the risk of low back pain, a problem that affects about 8 out of 10 adults at some point in their lives.
Previous analysis of existing studies has reached different conclusions. While research suggests a relationship between smoking and back pain, another cast “unclear results.”
Finnish researchers identified and reviewed 81 studies conducted worldwide between 1966 and 2009, which included smokers, former smokers and people who had never smoked. They took account of back pain.
Of the total, 40 studies involving over 300,000 adults and adolescents met the standards for analysis.
The Finnish team found that even if the data do not prove that smoking leads to back pain, analysis of previous literature suggesting an association “modest” between smoking and pain in the lower back.
“Current smokers (adolescents and adults) are 31 percent greater risk of low back pain compared with those who never smoked, but this increase is only for low back pain for a day or more in the last 12 months,” said Shiri.
The association between smoking and back pain was stronger when considering the “chronic or disabling low back pain, but Shiri said that none of the studies was designed to determine if there was a causal link.
Scientists do not know why smoking would be associated with low back pain but there are some possible explanations, including a reduction of blood flow in the bone, increased risk of osteoporosis and the increased movement of chemical pain drivers the blood of smokers.
Research suggests that young people “would be more vulnerable than adults to the effects of smoking” because the cigarette-related low back pain was higher among adolescents than in adult smokers.
Another explanation, they said, would be easier to identify and study the real rate of low back pain in young people than adults.
The study also suggests that “the effects of smoking would be at least partly reversible, since former smokers were less likely to seek care for low back pain than current smokers.
However, the authors concluded more research is needed on the ex-smokers to reach a more definitive answer.