If the risks of lung disease, heart disease, cancer and bad breath weren’t good enough reasons for you to give up smoking, here’s something else you should know: Research shows that smoking is harmful to your bones, joints and connective tissue as well. No matterwhat form of arthritis you have, you’ll be doing your joints and yourself a favor by quitting. Here are five more reasons for people with arthritis to snuff the habit.
Higher death risk.A 2016 study published inArthritis Care & Researchanalyzed data from 5,677 patients withrheumatoid arthritis (RA)and found that, over an average follow-up period of almost five years, death rates for smokers were almost double that of nonsmokers.Cardiovascular diseasewas the major cause of death. The good news: mortality risk fell significantly a year after quitting, particularly for heavy smokers, and it continued to fall each subsequent year.
More surgery complications.Two separate studies, presented at the 2012 annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, compared joint replacement in smokers and nonsmokers.
One, which followed 621 patients with an average age of 62, found those who smoked before and after totalknee replacementhad a 10-fold higher revision rate (do-over surgery) compared to nonsmokers. The other found that smokers who had the “cup” part of the hip joint replaced with a metal prosthesis had almost three times the implant failure rate compared to nonsmokers.
Worse OA.A Mayo Clinic study, published in 2007 inAnnals of the Rheumatic Diseases, followed 159 men with kneeosteoarthritis (OA)for up to 30 months and found current smokers had more severe pain and were more than twice as likely to have significant cartilage loss as nonsmokers. The researchers speculate that toxins from smoking may contribute to cartilage loss or that high carbon monoxide levels in the blood could hamper cartilage repair.
Worse RA.在一项对164名患有类风湿性关节炎的女性的研究中，研究人员发现，与从不吸烟的人相比，现在和过去的吸烟者症状更严重，关节损伤更严重。此外，缺乏一种名为谷胱甘肽s转移酶M1 (GSTM1)的基因的吸烟者——这种基因被认为在消除香烟烟雾中的致癌物质中发挥作用——具有更高水平的类风湿因子，一种与更严重的类风湿因子相关的抗体。The study was published in 2002 inArthritis & Rheumatism.
少有效的治疗方法。A study of 1,388 people withpsoriatic arthritiswho were using a TNF inhibitor, a type of biologic medication, found those who smoke had lower rates of response to the medication than nonsmokers. The study, published in 2014 inAnnals of the Rheumatic Diseases, also found smokers tended to require biologic therapy earlier in the disease process.
Author: Mary Anne Dunkin