AGING BONE SCORE AND CLIMATIC FACTORS

Hand radiograms for osseographic assessment of bone aging status were taken from more than 7,500 individuals residing in 31 different locali ties and belonging to 20 ethnic groups. Multiple regression analysis w as used to evaluate possible associations between bone aging parameter s and several climatic factors, to wit: hours of daylight in January a nd July, average monthly humidity and partial vapor pressure in Januar y and July, and one climatic index pertaining to comfort conditions in life, namely, the Bioclimatic Index of Severity of Climatic Regime. M ultiple regression analysis clearly pointed to significant correlation s between climatic characteristics and indices defining the relative r ate of bone aging in humans; it also evinced an independent contributi on of July's humidity and January's mean temperature to earliest age a t which first signs of bone aging can be found, In sum, there are grou nds for concluding that temperature and humidity are key factors in tr iggering initial bone changes in individuals within the human populati ons prone to environmental effects. The combination of humidity and te mperature with other factors which reflect the sharpness of the inters easonal differences in climatic conditions predispose the populations to early onset of bone changes. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.