Dementia Due to Cigarette

Dementia Due to Cigarette

Smoking is common in connecting with the heart and lung disease. It turned out not only that, smoking also increases the risk of dementia or Alzheimer's disease at advanced age. Finnish researchers concluded, as presented in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Rosanne Mina, MD and colleagues evaluated the health data about 21,000 people who participated in the survey between the years 1978 to 1985, when they were aged between 50 to 60 years.

The scientists found that in 1994-2008 (when their average age 71 years), nearly 5400 participants have received a diagnosis of dementia, including 1136 with Alzheimer's disease and 416 with vascular dementia.

Those who smoked more than two packs per day in middle age have a 100 percent higher risk of dementia than those who do not smoke. Former smokers or those who smoked less than half a pack a day did not appear to have an increased risk. The relationship between smoking and dementia did not vary by race or gender.

The cause of the increased risk of dementia remains unclear. Smoking is a known risk factor for stroke and encourages diseases that damage nerves. Risk of vascular dementia appeared through the same mechanism. In addition, smoking supports oxidative stress and inflammation, which is believed to be important in the development of Alzheimer's disease. "There is a possibility that smoking affects the development of dementia through the blood vessels and nerve degeneration," the researchers wrote.