2023-12-21 10:53:35
“One Cigarette per Day Causes Brain Damage”
According to a recent study conducted at the Washington University School of Medicine, even smoking just one cigarette per day can have significant consequences for the brain. The study, which was published in the journal “Biological Psychiatry,” found that smoking leads to a reduction in brain volume and this loss in mass can have detrimental effects on an individual’s health.
The study evaluated the health data of 32,094 subjects in the long-term medical study UK Biobank, and found that even those who had quit smoking for years had brains that remained permanently smaller than those who had never smoked. The researchers also discovered that the sooner an individual stops smoking, the less brain mass they lose.
The researchers suspect that this negative effect on the human brain could explain smokers’ higher risk of age-related cognitive disorders or diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. In addition, the researchers found that brain size and smoking behavior are hereditary, and the dose of cigarettes smoked also plays a role in the connection between smoking and brain volume.
“This sounds bad, and it is,” said Laura J. Bierut, co-author of the study. “A reduction in brain volume is consistent with increasing aging. This is important as our population ages, as aging and smoking are both risk factors for dementia.”
The study provides further evidence of the harmful effects of smoking, and emphasizes the importance of quitting smoking to prevent irreversible brain damage and other related health issues. The researchers hope that these findings will encourage more individuals to kick the habit and improve their overall health.]
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