A recent study published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity reveals that quitting smoking, even later in life, slows cognitive decline considerably. This breakthrough offers newfound motivation for older smokers to quit as a preventive measure against dementia.
In a new study from University College London, researchers have found that quitting smoking, even past middle age, can significantly slow cognitive decline.
The study, published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, analyzed data from 9,436 individuals aged 40 and older from 12 countries, revealing that those who quit smoking experienced substantially slower cognitive deterioration compared to those who continued smoking.
“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,” lead author Dr. Mikaela Bloomberg, a senior research fellow in social epidemiology and social statistics at the UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care, said in a news release.
The research revealed striking differences in cognitive decline between the two groups six years after cessation. Notably, verbal fluency decline was halved and memory decline slowed by 20% among former smokers.
Such findings indicate that quitting smoking can reduce the risk of dementia, though further research is needed for confirmation.
Previous studies have demonstrated short-term cognitive improvements post-smoking cessation, but this study is pivotal as it extends findings to older adults over a longer period.
“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,” added co-author Andrew Steptoe, a professor of psychology and epidemiology at the UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care.
The study’s participants were drawn from three national longitudinal studies: the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) in the United States.
The research team compared cognitive test results between individuals who quit smoking and those who continued, ensuring groups were matched for initial cognitive scores and demographic factors.
The differences in cognitive decline were stark. Post-cessation, former smokers experienced three to four months less memory decline and six months less verbal fluency decline per year of ageing, compared to continuing smokers.
These findings underscore the potential cognitive benefits of quitting smoking, even in later life.
“It seems that, for our cognitive health too, it is never too late to quit. 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,” Bloomberg added. “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.”
Nicotine’s harm to brain health is partly due to its detrimental effects on cardiovascular health and its role in fostering chronic inflammation and oxidative stress, which damages brain cells. This study shows that it’s never too late to quit smoking and highlights how cessation can lead to significant health benefits, including slower cognitive decline.
Source: University College London