Researchers assessed over 9,000 people over the age of 40
A study has discovered that giving up smoking, even later in life, could help slow the progression of age-related memory issues. Experts suggest these findings contribute to the evidence that quitting cigarettes may aid in preventing dementia, but emphasise that further research is necessary.
Researchers from UCL (University College London) investigated the effect of smoking on age-related cognitive decline, which refers to the deterioration of a person’s ability to think, learn and remember as they age. The study, published in the Lancet Healthy Longevity journal, analysed data from 9,436 individuals aged 40 and over from 12 different countries.
Half of the participants had quit smoking, while the other half continued. Researchers stated that “the association between smoking and cognitive health is well established” but the long-term benefits of quitting are “less clear”.
Analysis of tests measuring memory and verbal fluency revealed that scores for those who had quit smoking declined at a slower pace in the six years following their cessation. For those who quit smoking, the rate of decline was approximately 20 per cent slower for memory and 50 per cent slower for verbal fluency, reports Wales Online.
Dr Mikaela Bloomberg, from UCL’s Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, stated: “Our study suggests that quitting smoking may help people to maintain better cognitive health over the long term even when we are in our 50s or older when we quit. We already know that quitting smoking, even later in life, is often followed by improvements in physical health and well-being. It seems that, for our cognitive health too, it is never too late to quit.”
She added: “This finding is especially important because middle-aged and older smokers are less likely to try to quit than younger groups, yet they disproportionately experience the harms of smoking. Evidence that quitting may support cognitive health could offer new compelling motivation for this group to try and quit smoking. Also, as policymakers wrestle with the challenges of an ageing population, these findings provide another reason to invest in tobacco control.”
Co-author Prof Andrew Steptoe, also of UCL’s Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, commented: “Slower cognitive decline is linked to lower dementia risk. These findings add to evidence suggesting that quitting smoking might be a preventative strategy for the disease. However, further research will be needed that specifically examines dementia to confirm this.”
The latest Annual Population Survey from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that about 11.9 per cent of people aged 18 or over – equivalent to roughly six million individuals – smoked cigarettes in the UK in 2023. This is the lowest proportion of current smokers since ONS began keeping records in 2011.
The data suggests that those aged 25 to 34 were most likely to smoke (14 per cent), while those aged over 65 were least likely to smoke (8.2 per cent).
Responding to the findings of the UCL study, Dr Julia Dudley, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, stated: “Smoking is linked to multiple serious health conditions, including cancer, heart disease and dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Quitting smoking can significantly reduce your risk of developing these diseases. As this is an observational study, it only suggests a link between cognitive decline and quitting smoking.”
She added: “Further research is needed to understand whether other factors contributed to the differences, such as demographic differences, socioeconomic background or alcohol consumption. Having other measures of cognition monitored, such as problem solving, would also give a bigger picture of the benefits of quitting smoking.”
Professor Paresh Malhotra, group leader at the UK Dementia Research Institute Centre for Care Research and Technology and head of the division of neurology at Imperial College London, stated: “It’s increasingly clear that what’s good for your heart and blood vessels is good for your brain and thinking.”
He added: “This study from UCL provides further evidence, showing that stopping smoking after the age of 40 is associated with better memory and language skills than if people continue to smoke. This adds further impetus to the need to help as many people as possible, at whatever age, quit smoking altogether.”
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