Smoking Linked to Increased Dementia Risk for Elderly Men

Need some inspiration and motivation for your battle against tobacco? Well you surely know that smoking damages your heart and lungs, but did you know that it also damages your long term cognitive abilities…that is unless you quit in time.

English researchers say that elderly male smokers experience greater cognitive decline than their non smoking peers.

The Study

Researchers at University College London, England examined smoking data and tested cognitive function on over 7000 older members of the British Civil Service.

• Each subject received a cognitive abilities assessment. Subjects were an average of 56 years old at the time of this assessment.
• Over the decade following this first assessment, each subject received two further cognitive assessments
• Each subject provided information on smoking habits over the previous 25 years.

The Results

• Male smokers experienced quicker cognitive decline than male non smokers
• Male smokers who continued to smoke during the decade after the first cognitive assessment experienced the quickest rates of decline
• Men who had quit smoking more than 10 years prior to the first assessment showed no accelerated cognitive decline.
• Female smokers did not experience a comparable accelerated rate of decline.

Commentary

The authors say their study adds further evidence to the hypothesis that smoking is linked to dementia in the elderly.

The full research results can be found in Archives of General Psychiatry