Heavy Smoking increases risks of Alzheimer disease later in life by over 100%

The source of the information below is from Helpingyourcare.com discussing a new study published in the February 28, 2011 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine which found that heavy smoking in midlife may increase the risks of getting Alzheimer Disease or Vascular Dementia later in life by more than 100%.

The authors of the study believe "this is the first study to investigate the long-term association between the amount of smoking in midlife and the risk of dementia [Alzheimer's Disease and Vascular Dementia] later in life in a large, multiethnic cohort.” Previous studies had measured only an association between smoking and short-term risk of dementia.

In the study, researchers analyzed data collected from a multi-ethnic group of 21,123 patients in the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in San Francisco and Oakland, California, who participated in a survey given as part of routine medical care between 1978 and 1985.   The survey collected a large amount of data on the subjects’ health habits, including the extent to which they smoked, as well as medical information about their height, weight, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, glucose levels, incidence of stroke and cardiovascular problems, and other data. The study participants had a mean age of 58 years at the time of survey.

The researchers analyzed the data to determine whether extent of smoking in middle age correlated with dementia in later life. Results were adjusted to control for the potential effects of other factors, including age, sex, education, race, marital status, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, body mass index, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and alcohol use.

The study results found that, compared to study subjects who did not smoke, those who smoked more than 2 packs a day at midlife had a greater than 100% increase in risk of both Alzheimer’s Disease and Vascular Dementia more than two decades later.

The association between smoking and dementia, including Vascular Dementia, remained significant even after controlling for the other factors. These results suggest that the brain may suffer long-term consequences as a result of heavy smoking in midlife. 

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