Alzheimer's, Dementia & Mental Health
Middle-Age Smokers Have Worse Memory Than
Non-Smokers but Many Die Before Final Test
Those that stopped smoking also experienced more
improvement in health habits, such as drinking less alcohol, being more
physically active, eating more fruits and vegetables
June
9, 2008 – The researchers found it difficult to gather research on
middle-age smokers as they age because, for one thing, so many died.
They also appeared to be reluctant to return to have their memory and
cognitive ability tested. Nevertheless, the research has concluded that
smoking does appear to cause an increased risk of poor memory among
those in their middle years – younger boomers, basically.
A recent meta-analysis has also concluded that
smoking is a risk factor for dementia, according to the authors of the
report in the June 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the
JAMA/Archives journals.
However, the writers point out, research regarding
the link between smoking and cognitive (thinking, learning and memory)
function is difficult in older adults because many study participants do
not return for follow-up visits or die of smoking-related diseases.
Séverine Sabia, M.Sc., of the Institut National de
la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Villejuif, France, and colleagues
analyzed data from 10,308 London-based civil servants age 35 to 55 that
enrolled in the Whitehall II study between 1985 and 1988.
Smoking habits were assessed at that time and again
between 1997 and 1999. A total of 5,388 participants completed tests of
memory, reasoning, vocabulary and verbal fluency between 1997 and 1999
and 4,659 were re-tested five years later.
● Individuals who smoked at the beginning of the
study were more likely to die during the average 17.1 years of
follow-up, and also were less likely to participate in the cognitive
testing.
● At the first round of cognitive testing, those
who smoked were more likely to be in the lowest-performing group (lowest
20 percent) compared with those who had never smoked.
● Those who reported being ex-smokers at the
beginning of the study were 30 percent less likely than smokers to have
poor vocabulary and low verbal frequency scores.
● Individuals who stopped smoking during the
study also experienced more improvement in other health habits, such as
drinking less alcohol, being more physically active and eating more
fruits and vegetables.
“This study presents four key findings,” the
authors write.
“First, smoking in middle age is associated with
memory deficit and decline in reasoning abilities.
“Second, long-term ex-smokers are less likely to
have cognitive deficits in memory, vocabulary and verbal fluency.
“Third, giving up smoking in midlife is accompanied
by improvement in other health behaviors.
“Fourth, our results based on a large prospective
cohort study of middle-aged British civil servants suggests that the
association between smoking and cognition, even in late midlife, could
be underestimated because of higher risk of death and non-participation
in cognitive tests among smokers.”
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Up
to 80% of patients with mental illness are smokers and
consume up to 44% of all cigarettes in the U.S. -
Read more |
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The results are important because individuals with
cognitive impairment in midlife may progress to dementia at a faster
rate, the authors note.
“During the past 20 years, public health messages
about smoking have led to changes in smoking behavior,” they write.
“Public health messages on smoking should continue to target smokers of
all ages.”
