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Middle-age smoking increases dementia risk
OAKLAND, Calif., -- Heavy smoking during middle age increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia by more than 150 percent, U.S. researchers say.
Rachel A. Whitmer, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente division of research in Oakland, Calif., and colleagues tracked an ethnically diverse population of 21,123 men and women from midlife onward for an average of 23 years.
Those who smoked more than two packs of cigarettes a day had more than a 157 percent increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and 172 percent increased risk of vascular dementia -- a group of dementia syndromes caused by conditions affecting the blood supply to the brain -- during the 23-year study period, compared to those who were non-smokers.
"This study shows that the brain is not immune to the long-term consequences of heavy smoking," Whitmer says in a statement. "We know smoking compromises the vascular system by affecting blood pressure and elevates blood clotting factors, and we know vascular health plays a role in the risk of Alzheimer's disease."
The researchers factored in age, sex, education, race, marital status, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, body mass index, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and alcohol use, the researchers say.
The findings are published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
OAKLAND, Calif., -- Heavy smoking during middle age increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia by more than 150 percent, U.S. researchers say.
Rachel A. Whitmer, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente division of research in Oakland, Calif., and colleagues tracked an ethnically diverse population of 21,123 men and women from midlife onward for an average of 23 years.
Those who smoked more than two packs of cigarettes a day had more than a 157 percent increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and 172 percent increased risk of vascular dementia -- a group of dementia syndromes caused by conditions affecting the blood supply to the brain -- during the 23-year study period, compared to those who were non-smokers.
"This study shows that the brain is not immune to the long-term consequences of heavy smoking," Whitmer says in a statement. "We know smoking compromises the vascular system by affecting blood pressure and elevates blood clotting factors, and we know vascular health plays a role in the risk of Alzheimer's disease."
The researchers factored in age, sex, education, race, marital status, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, body mass index, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and alcohol use, the researchers say.
The findings are published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
