A new study published in the journal Biological psychiatry It indicates that smoking reduces brain size and causes premature aging of the human brain. However, researchers also warn that quitting smoking prevents further loss of brain tissue, although this action does not restore the organ's original size.
Because people's brains naturally lose volume as they age, the findings help explain why smokers have a higher risk of age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease.
smoking hazards
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In an official statement, the senior author and professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington commented on the new findings. “Until recently, scientists ignored the effects of smoking on the brain, partly because we focused on all the terrible effects smoking has on the lungs and heart,” he said.
According to Beirut, when researchers began monitoring the brain more closely, the data also showed that smoking also has significant damage to the organ. Smoking has long been linked to smaller brain size, however This is the first time a study has pointed to signs of causality.
Researchers also warn of a third factor to take into consideration: genetics. According to the study, brain size and smoking behavior are genetic. Therefore, approximately half of a person's risk of being a smoker can be attributed to his or her genes.
To uncover the connection between genes, brain and behaviour, Bierut and his team analyzed data from the UK Biobank, a publicly available biomedical database containing genetic, health and behavioral information on half a million people – particularly those of European descent.
data analysis
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A subset of more than 40,000 participants from the UK Biobank underwent brain imaging, which can be used to determine the size of an individual's brain. In total, the team analyzed de-identified data on brain size, smoking history and genetic risks of smoking in 32,000 people.
The study showed that each pair of factors was associated: smoking history and brain size; Genetic risks of smoking and smoking history. Genetic risks of smoking and brain size. The data also showed that the more packs smoked daily, the smaller the patient's brain size.
When the three factors were taken into account together, the association between genetic risk for smoking and brain size disappeared, while the association between each of them and smoking behaviors remained. Unfortunately for smokers, brain shrinkage appears to be irreversible once it begins. However, although the damage cannot be undone, stopping smoking has been interpreted as a way to halt brain aging and the risk of dementia later in life.
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