Smoking Causes Mental Deterioration in Later Life

From the American Journal of Public Health: There's been some doubt about whether smoking increases or decreases the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Some studies suggested that the nicotine in cigarette smoke had a protective effect against the disease, while other indicate quite the reverse. A large study recently reported in the medical journal of Neurology, and summarized here, confirms an earlier finding from the UK, and clearly implicates smoking as a risk factor for mental decline in later life.

The Investigators used more than 17,000 participants over 65 years old from four differnt long-term European studies. At baseline, the participants were screened for dementia, using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Information on smoking habits was collected : current smoker, former smoker, never smoked and packs per year. After an average of 2.3 years, over 9,200 of the subjects without dementia were re-tested.

The average age at follow up was 73 years old. Over half of the participants were women, with 23% of women former smokers.

The average MMSE score at baseline was 27.4 and at follow-up it was 27.2. The average overall decline corresponded to 0.11 points per year. For current smokers, the decline in MMSE was 0.13 points per year as opposed to those who never smoked and showed a decline of 0.03 per year.

This study clearly demonstrates that smoking is linked to impairment of mental abilities in midlife and beyond. In people aged 43 to 53 who smoked more than 20 cigarettes a day - it was found that they had a faster deline in verbal memory and slower visual search speeds.

It is likely that the effects seen in these studies are related to the influence of smoking on the occurrence of atherosclerosis, as well as more short-term effects such as constriction of blood vessels and an increased likelihood of blood platelet aggregation leading to small blood clots.

The bottom line - Smoking clearly decreases mental abilities, and mild cognitive impairment is associated with the subsequent development of Alzheimer's disease.

Smokers, you have been warned ( yet again! ).

For more information on risk factors and preventative measures - contact the Alzheimer's Association at (716) 626-0600.

Information regarding Elderwood Senior Care can be obtained by calling (716) 633-3900.