Smoking men lose mental strength faster

Smoking men with increased impaired mental abilities

02/07/2012

Smoking is considered to be a risk factor for dementia, with the negative impact of smoking on men's brain being more pronounced in males than females, according to a comprehensive study by British researchers led by Severine Sabia of University College London (UCL)..

Like the researchers in the US trade magazine „Archives of General Psychiatry“ Obviously, smoking in men is especially special „bad for the brain“, while the differences in cognitive performance between smokers and non-smokers are significantly lower. The scientists around Severine Sabia of UCL had examined the effects of tobacco use on cognitive abilities in their now published study over a period of more than ten years.

Connection between smoking and brain development
The aim of her comprehensive cohort study was to investigate the relationship between smoking and brain development „at the transition from mid-life to old age“, the British researchers write in their latest publication. Although smoking is known to be a potential risk factor for dementia, its effects on the elderly population may have been underestimated due to the generally shorter life expectancy of smokers. As part of their study, Severine Sabia and colleagues evaluated the data of 5,099 men and 2,137 women, which were recorded in the so-called Whitehall II study since 1997. The average age of the subjects was 56 years at the first cognitive assessment (age range of study participants 44 to 69 years). In addition to tobacco use, the mental abilities of study participants were recorded by means of a series of tests. The tests included, for example, examinations of memory and vocabulary.

Cognitive decline in the smoking men
At the end of the study period was „the cognitive decline“ Severin Sabia and colleagues report more clearly in the smoking men than in those who have never smoked. The cognitive performance of smokers, however, was apparently unaffected by tobacco use. The negative effects of tobacco were also found in ex-smokers, although, according to the British researchers, the duration of the previous tobacco abstinence played an essential role. So be with the „long-term ex-smokers“ (at least 10 years without tobacco) had the cognitive impairment comparable to those of subjects who had never smoked. In all tests - except for the vocabulary - the smoking men had done significantly worse than non-smokers, the scientists write in the magazine „Archives of General Psychiatry“. In a commentary to the current article, neurologist Marc Gordon explains that the findings of British researchers are clear evidence of the negative effects of smoking on the brain - especially in men.

Smokers without impairment of cognitive performance?
While it is not clear from the current study, why smokers purify mentally much faster than smokers, it clearly shows that women do not suffer from the same cognitive impairments as men due to tobacco use. However, the researchers could not provide an explanation for this. Perhaps this is due to the relatively higher number of cigarettes per day among men, speculate Severine Sabia and colleagues from UCL. (Fp)

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Picture credits: Thorsten Freyer