Put out the cigarette, avoid back pain

Put out the cigarette, avoid back pain

Smokers are three times more likely than nonsmokers to develop chronic back pain, says a study  by researchers at  Northwestern University.  The study said dropping the habit may cut their chances of developing back pain.

If you want to avoid chronic back pain, put out the cigarette, says the report. 

"Smoking affects the brain," said Bogdan Petre, lead author of the study and a technical scientist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "We found that it affects the way the brain responds to back pain and seems to make individuals less resilient to an episode of pain."

This is the first evidence to link smoking and chronic pain with the part of the brain associated with addiction and reward. The study was published online in the journal Human Brain Mapping.

 

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