Need another reason to quit? An alarming new British study links smoking to mental diseases like dementia...The findings, published in the journal Age and Ageing, demonstrated a "consistent association" between smoking and lower test scores. At the end of eight years, high blood pressure and a high risk of stroke were also associated with lower scores for memory and overall mental ability.
What the experts say: Previous studies have shown that roughly 30 percent of all deaths from heart disease in the United States are directly related to cigarette smoking, and this new research adds to an increasing body of evidence that smoking-related high blood pressure can gradually change the brain over long periods of time. "We have identified a number of risk factors which could be associated with accelerated cognitive decline, all of which could be modifiable," says lead scientist Dr. Alex Dregan. "We all know smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and a high BMI is bad for our heart," says Jessica Smith from the Alzheimer's Society. "This research adds to the huge amount of evidence that suggests they can be bad for our head too."
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