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Tobacco products cause damage to the spine in animal studies. Nicotine, the active ingredient in tobacco, causes the discs between the bones of the spine to break down more quickly. This happens because nicotine indirectly kills the disc material.

The disc is made of a soft, spongy material that does not have its own blood vessels. Instead, many blood vessels surround the disc to bring blood to the area. This network of blood vessels bringing oxygen and nutrients to the disc is divided into two parts. One section goes to the center of the disc (the nucleus pulposus). The other blood vessels supply the outer disc (the annulus fibrosus).

A recent study in Japan used rabbits to study the effects of nicotine on the spine. The rabbits were injected with nicotine levels equal to a heavy smoker. Nicotine killed the cells of the blood vessels, especially the vascular buds. Vascular buds are new growths coming from a blood vessel already in the area. They are part of the blood supply to the nucleus pulposus. The tips of the buds actually touch the disc. Oxygen and nutrients normally pass from the buds to the disc.

According to this study, smoking reduces the number of vascular buds and narrows the opening of the blood vessels. Less oxygen and fewer nutrients get to the disc. The result is more rapid and greater damage to the discs and eventual death of the tissue.

References: Masaki Iwahashi, MD, et al. Mechanism of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration Caused by Nicotine in Rabbits to Explicate Intervertebral Disc Disorders Caused by Smoking. In Spine. July 1, 2002. Vol. 27. No. 13. Pp. 1396-1401.

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