Kyphoplasty for vertebral compression fractures: the blue zone effect
David Shin, Elijah Haynal, Rekha Isaac, Graydon Dietrich, Hyun Ah Park, Daniel Im, Jeffrey Lubisich, Brandon Edelbach, Othman Bin-Alamer, Rasha Elbadry, Peter Zaki, Namath Hussain · 2026
Read Kyphoplasty for vertebral compression fractures: the blue zone effect by David Shin, Elijah Haynal, Rekha Isaac, Graydon Dietrich, Hyun Ah Park, Daniel Im, Jeffrey Lubisich, Brandon Edelbach, Othman Bin-Alamer, Rasha Elbadry, Peter Zaki, Namath Hussain (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13458825.txt.
Description
David Shin and colleagues test whether living in a blue zone, a longevity hotspot famed for low chronic disease, changes outcomes after kyphoplasty for spinal compression fractures. Their 2026 retrospective review covers 372 patients treated at one tertiary center between 2009 and 2025, sorted by postal code, then matched one-to-three. Just 190 patients remained, only 15 of them blue zone residents.
The lifestyle signal was clear: blue zone patients reported no alcohol use against 34 to 64 percent among others. Tobacco use was 7 percent against 43 to 47 percent, in both raw and matched comparisons. Outcomes, though, refused to follow the legend. No association emerged between blue zone residence and complications, readmission, or survival. The familiar villains ran the show: tobacco predicted 30-day readmission, while age, anesthesia risk score, diabetes, and blood loss lengthened hospital stays. Longevity habits may delay fractures, the authors conclude, but they do not rescue the operation's course once the fracture happens.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | David Shin, Elijah Haynal, Rekha Isaac, Graydon Dietrich, Hyun Ah Park, Daniel Im, Jeffrey Lubisich, Brandon Edelbach, Othman Bin-Alamer, Rasha Elbadry, Peter Zaki, Namath Hussain |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 46400 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |