CCTPCC : Health Consequences of smoking

Health Consequences

Smoking ups risk of Alzheimer's disease for 65 and older More »
CDC: Smoking-Attributable Mortality and Years of Potential Life Lost, by State -- More »
Maternal smoking associated with risk factors for children Women with low education should be the target of public health efforts toward reducing tobacco use. More »
Child cancer link to smoking 'close' A new study links low birth weight, premature birth and newborn admission to intensive care -- all more common in the children of smokers -- with as much as a five-fold increase in childhood cancer. More »
Effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy on newborn neurobehavior Infants of mothers who smoked during pregnancy showed greater need for handling and worse self-regulation and trended toward greater excitability and arousal relative to matched, unexposed infants. More »
Indiana African Americans and Smoking This fact sheet shows data specifically related to African Americans and smoking habits, health risks, and attitudes about smoking and second-hand smoke. More »
Cutting Back Doesn't Help Smokers' Health Even smokers who cut their cigarette consumption in half in a bid to improve their health tend to die early. More »
DNA Damage from Smoking Causes Breast Cancer New research shows cigarette smoke prevents breast cells from repairing their DNA, leading to cancer growth. More »
Smoking Can Lead to Blindness A new study shows that smokers have a two-to-three times higher risk of developing age-related macular degeneration compared to nonsmokers. More »
Smoking harms moms and their unborn children Indiana is one of the worst states in the nation when it comes to maternal smoking. More »
Smoking Can Lead to Erectile Dysfunction Men who smoke a pack a day have a 60% higher risk of erectile dysfunction than nonsmokers. More »
Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease Cigarette smoking is a major cause of coronary heart disease. More »
Emphysema and Chronic Bronchitis Caused by Smoking 75% of deaths from COPD that occur in developed countries are directly related to smoking tobacco. More »

Facts / Health Consequences

Smoking ups risk of Alzheimer's disease for 65 and older

Peters, R. et al. BMC Geriatrics, 8:36.

Smoking, dementia and cognitive decline in the elderly, a systematic review.

Purpose: Smoking increases cardiovascular risk factors. Cardiovascular risk factors, in
turn, have been linked to increased risk of dementia. A previous meta-analysis found that
current smokers were at a higher risk for cognitive decline. A systematic review and
meta-analysis was carried out in order to examine this further. Different search and
inclusion criteria were used, as well as more recent publications.

Overall Findings: The review found a significantly higher risk of Alzheimer's disease
with current smoking. No clear relationship was found with former smoking and
Alzheimer's disease.

How it can be used: Smoking increases risk of Alzheimer's disease and may increase risk
of other dementias. These findings reinforce the need for smoking cessation, particularly
among those aged 65 and over. Nicotine alone needs more investigation. Claims have
been made that nicotine/cigarettes may aid reaction time and increase learning capacity
and memory, thus slowing cognitive decline. This review presents a solid, evidencebased
argument against that notion.