title: Spinal health and smoking.
abstract: Spine care is a growing concern for health care in the United States. Although the etiology of spinal pain can be multifactorial, reducing preventable causes would have a significant impact on the morbidity and lost productivity that parallels spinal disease. Numerous studies have demonstrated significant direct relationships between smoking and back pain. Other studies identify smoking as a strong predictor for slow recovery or pseudoarthrosis, the failure of solid fusions, following spinal surgery. The mechanisms by which these occur may be multi-faceted, from decreased exercise among smokers to disruption of cellular metabolism in the vertebral bodies and discs.
authors.affiliation: Sanford School of Medicine, The University of South Dakota, USA.
authors.forename: Seth W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Harrer
authors.forename: Walter O
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Carlson
mesh_terms: D001416:Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D001861:Bone Regeneration; D015897:Comorbidity; D006801:Humans; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome