Summary: Those who quit smoking, or who have never lit up, have a 19% decreased risk of developing dementia than continual smokers, a new study reports.
Source: Wiley.
In an Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology analysis of nationwide health claims from Korea, men who smoked had an elevated risk of dementia.
Compared with continual smokers, long-term quitters and never smokers had 14% and 19% lower risks for dementia, respectively. Never smokers had an 18% decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease compared with continual smokers. Also, long-term quitters and never smokers had 32% and 29% decreased risks of vascular dementia compared with continual smokers.
The study included 46,140 men aged 60 years or older from a Korean health screening program in 2002 to 2013.
“Smoking cessation was clearly linked with a reduced dementia risk in the long term, indicating that smokers should be encouraged to quit in order to benefit from this decreased risk,” said senior author Dr. Sang Min Park, of Seoul National University, in Korea.
Source: Penny Smith – Wiley
Publisher: Organized by NeuroscienceNews.com.
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Open access research for “Effect of smoking cessation on the risk of dementia: a longitudinal study” by Daein Choi, Seulggie Choi, and Sang Min Park in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. Published September 5 2018.
doi:10.1002/acn3.633
[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Wiley”Smoking Linked to Higher Dementia Risk.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 6 September 2018.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/smoking-dementia-9809/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Wiley(2018, September 6). Smoking Linked to Higher Dementia Risk. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved September 6, 2018 from https://neurosciencenews.com/smoking-dementia-9809/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Wiley”Smoking Linked to Higher Dementia Risk.” https://neurosciencenews.com/smoking-dementia-9809/ (accessed September 6, 2018).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]
Abstract
Effect of smoking cessation on the risk of dementia: a longitudinal study
Objective
To determine the risk of developing dementia in relation to duration of smoking cessation by using a nationwide health claims database.
Methods
This cohort study included 46,140 men aged 60 years or older from Korean National Health Insurance System – National Health Screening Cohort, a population‐based national health screening program from 2002 to 2013. The changes in smoking habit from a questionnaire during the first (2002 and 2003) and second (2004 and 2005) health examination periods, participants were divided into continual smokers, short‐term (less than 4 years) quitters, long‐term (4 years or more) quitters, and never smokers. Participants were followed‐up for 8 years from January 1, 2006 for the development of overall dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and vascular dementia.
Results
Compared to continual smokers, long‐term quitters and never smokers had decreased risk of overall dementia (hazard ratio, HR 0.86 95% CI, confidence interval 0.75–0.99 and HR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.71–0.91, respectively). Never smokers had decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (HR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.70–0.96) compared to continual smokers. Finally, both long‐term quitters (HR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.48–0.96) and never smokers (HR: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.54–0.95) had decreased risk of vascular dementia compared to continual smokers.
Interpretation
Smoking was associated with increased risk of dementia. Smokers who quit for a prolonged period of time may benefit from reduced risk of dementia. Therefore, smokers should be encouraged to quit in order to reduce the risk of developing dementia, especially in the elderly population who are already at risk.
