Alcohol

Osteonecrosis is a condition of bone death leading to joint pain, bone destruction, and loss of function. Nontraumatic osteonecrosis, a disease entity in which the underlying etiology and pathogenesis have not been fully elucidated, commonly involves the femoral heads. Although a wide spectrum of conditions, including systemic steroid administration, that are potentially related to nontraumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) have been reported so far, alcohol consumption continues to be important as an environmental factor. In this chapter, we present a summary of the descriptive and analytic epidemiology regarding alcohol-induced ONFH, as well as related issues including potential mechanisms for disease etiology and influences of alcohol-associated factors.