Smoking

A bad habit just got worse. Orthopedists studying the hazards of cigarettes
say that among its other ills, smoking also slows the healing of broken bones.

When a bone fractures, cells near the break produce a fibrous substance called
collagen that patches the fissure. But carbon monoxide and nicotine in cigarette
smoke limit the amount of oxygen that reaches those cells, hindering their
collagen-making ability. Preliminary findings indicate that having just one
cigarette can dramatically reduce collagen production for 30 to 40 minutes.

Dr. George Cierny III, orthopedic surgeon at Atlanta’s St. Joseph’s Hospital,
studied the time it took 29 patients to recuperate from leg-bone surgery. His
findings: patients who smoked regained their ability to walk an average of six
months later than nonsmokers. “It may be that people smoking a pack a day mend
their broken bones only while they sleep,” says Cierny. “Eventually bones heal,
but the healing takes a lot longer.”