QUITTING smoking even in old age could help to stave off dementia.
A study found that former smokers’ memory and speech declined significantly slower than people who still puffed cigarettes.
Experts said older people are less likely to quit smoking (stock image)[/caption]
Ditching fags younger would have greater benefits but scientists at University College London said: “It is never too late.”
About six million Brits smoke tobacco despite links to more than a dozen cancer types as well as heart disease and dementia.
The new study compared the brain health of 4,700 smokers older than 40 who quit, to 4,700 who did not quit.
All participants smoked during the first six years of the study and their brain health declined at the same rate.
When half of the group quit, their memory deterioration slowed by 20 per cent over the next six years.
Their speech and language declined only half as much as the people who continued to smoke.
Findings could motivate older smokers to quit
Experts believe smoking harms the brain by damaging the blood vessels that supply it with vital oxygen, and quitting can help to restore a healthy flow.
Study author Dr Mikaela Bloomberg said: “This suggests that quitting smoking may help people to maintain better cognitive health over the long term, even if we are in our 50s or older when we quit.
“This is important because middle-aged and older smokers are less likely to try to quit than younger groups, yet they disproportionately experience the harms of smoking.”
Previous research suggests people’s brainpower might improve immediately after kicking the habit.
The new report, published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, suggests the boost lasts for years.
Dementia is the leading single cause of death in the UK and around one million people have it.
The truth about smoking
ONE in eight people in the UK smokes.
And yet it’s the biggest cause of death and disease that we can control.
About half of life-long smokers will die early, losing about 10 years of life on average.
The most common smoking-related causes of death are: lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and coronary heart disease.
But it is linked to all sorts of other conditions, from heart attacks and strokes to diabetes and depression.
Smoking harms every organ in the body, which is why it accounts for approximately 74,600 deaths every year in England alone.
It kills more people annually than having a high BMI, alcohol and drugs combined.
Around 506,100 NHS hospital admissions in people over the age of 35 are attributable to smoking, accounting for four per cent of all hospital admissions in this age group.
Smoking also costs the NHS in England about £1.9billion a year.
Source: Action on Smoking
