Effects of Smoking

Effects of smoking are clearly devastating. But, if you need another reason to give it up, try to remember this one. Research published in the American Journal of Public Health shows that smokers over the age of 40 have a much faster rate of memory loss than non-smokers.

Dr. Marcus Richards and his team at the University College in London studied the effects of smoking on memory loss of over 5,000 people. Participants were shown 15 words for two seconds each and were then asked to write down as many words as they could remember. In another test for speed and concentration, participants had to take a page full of letters and cross out as many Ps and Ws as they could find in one minute.

The researchers found that cigarette smokers in their 40s and 50s had much lower scores on these memory and concentration tests compared with non-smokers and the scores were even lower for those people who smoked the most cigarettes a day, showing a definite relationship between memory loss and increased smoking.

The connection between smoking and declined brain function has long been known, but not fully understood. Impaired memory, for example, is a common symptom of smoking related diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, bronchitis, emphysema and asthma. Other studies have shown smokers to have much greater difficulty remembering names and faces.

Click on the link to read more about Smoking Health Risks.

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Comments (1)

  1. John Miller says:

    Thank you for this information, this would serve as an awareness not for myself but those people who smoke to quit smoking before its too late

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