A new study suggests that smoking could be a key factor in how quickly our thinking skills decline as we age. Researchers at University College London (UCL) analyzed data from 32,000 adults aged 50 and over across 14 European countries, tracking their cognitive abilities over a decade.
The study, published in Nature Communications, looked at how different lifestyle factors might affect cognitive decline in older adults. The researchers focused on behaviors like smoking, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and social interaction.
Smoking Stands Out Among Lifestyle Factors
Participants took memory and verbal fluency tests to measure their cognitive function. The researchers then grouped them based on their lifestyle habits. They looked at whether people smoked, exercised regularly, socialized at least weekly, and drank moderately.
The results were striking. People who smoked showed faster cognitive decline compared to non-smokers. In fact, smokers’ cognitive scores declined up to 85% more over 10 years than those of non-smokers.
Interestingly, smokers who maintained healthy habits in other areas – regular exercise, moderate drinking, and frequent socializing – showed cognitive decline rates similar to non-smokers.
Hope for Smokers Who Can’t Quit
Lead author Dr. Mikaela Bloomberg from UCL’s Behavioural Science & Health department said: “Our study is observational so cannot definitively establish cause and effect, but it suggests smoking might be a particularly important factor influencing the rate of cognitive ageing.”
She added, “Previous evidence suggests individuals who engage in more healthy behaviours have slower cognitive decline; however, it was unclear whether all behaviours contributed equally to cognitive decline, or if there were specific behaviours driving these results.”
The findings offer a ray of hope for smokers struggling to quit. Dr. Bloomberg noted, “For people who aren’t able to stop smoking, our results suggest that engaging in other healthy behaviours such as regular exercise, moderate alcohol consumption and being socially active may help offset adverse cognitive effects associated with smoking.”
The researchers took into account various factors that could have influenced the results, including age, gender, country, education, wealth, and chronic conditions.
This study used data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). These projects receive funding from various sources, including the National Institute on Aging, UK Government departments, and the European Union.
While the study can’t prove that smoking directly causes faster cognitive decline, it highlights the potential importance of quitting smoking for maintaining brain health as we age. For those unable to quit, the research suggests that adopting other healthy habits might help mitigate some of smoking’s negative effects on cognitive function.
