Study published in eClinicalMedicine associates air pollution loss of bone density in women. The phenomenon can be translated as the damage caused to the bone structure, which becomes more fragile, especially after menopause. The main gas responsible for this phenomenon is nitrogen oxide.
Study expands findings on air pollution and osteoporosis
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According to the search conducted by Diddier Prada, Carolyn Crandall and other scientists, air pollution levels are directly linked to the loss of bone mineral density, a condition that favors the onset of osteoporosis, a chronic disease that makes bones more fragile.
In the research, more than 9,000 female participants in the postmenopausal period were followed for 6 years. Among the data provided was the address of the participants, to measure levels of nitric oxide, sulfur dioxide and other chemical gases.
With these data, it was possible to discover that the greater the presence of polluting gases, the more the reduction in bone mineral density intensifies. In this way, all bones in the body were negatively affected by pollution and became more fragile, including the spine and neck.
For Diddier Prada, one of the researchers responsible for the study, who works at Columbia University, in the United States, air pollution is a risk factor for loss of bone density.
According to Prada, poor air quality negatively affects everyone, including women. Furthermore, bone loss due to air pollution does not depend on socioeconomic or demographic factors. Thus, everyone is equally exposed to the chemical gases that harm bones.
This bone loss can happen when there is cell death due to oxidative stress caused by molecules toxic present in the environment with the potential to harm the human body.
Among the chemical gases most harmful to bones is nitrogen oxide. In the study, all parts of the body showed bone loss, however, the lumbar spine is the most affected by air pollution, argues Prada.
The researchers' conclusion also happens in this line due to the difference in lifestyles, conditions socioeconomic and ethnicities of all participants, who had in common only the fact that they were in the period post menopause.
For scientists, the study can contribute to increase efforts towards the construction of policies to improve air quality, with the reduction of harmful gases, especially carbon dioxide nitrogen.
Likewise, they argue that the study will be useful in detecting who are the people most likely to suffer from air pollution.