BAD FOR THE BONES

Bad to bone

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Women who smoke have weaker bones than women who don’t. And a study indicates that’s also the case for teenage girls, who may be setting themselves up for weaker bones as they get old.

Researcher Lorah Dorn of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital saw this in data on 262 healthy girls.

The researchers say girls who entered adolescence had about the same bone density whether or not they smoked, but the girls who smoked more had gained less bone at the end of adolescence Dorn says that’s especially important because the teen years are crucial for building bone for adulthood:

“You’re really laying what we think is an important foundation for bone health across the lifespan of a woman.”

The study in the Journal of Adolescent Health was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at healthfinder.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.