Smoking bans may do more than protect your lungs. Less smoking may improve your memory. Cigarette smoking has been linked with increased risk for cancer, heart disease, emphysema and premature death. Forgetfulness can now be added to the list of side effects from smoking.
Cigarettes
When you inhale cigarette smoke, you bring tar, carbon monoxide and nicotine into your body. Nicotine constricts your blood vessels, which causes your body's blood flow to slow. Over time, nicotine can cause permanent damage to your arteries. Nicotine's affects can reach your brain in seconds and last for an entire day. Princeton University Health Services warns that your cognitive function will most likely be impaired by smoking.
Brain
Your brain is the power center for your body. Signals from your brain allow you to think, talk, move and remember. The frontal lobe is responsible for memory. Blood flow to and from the brain replenishes cells and transports nutrients. Nicotine interferes with this flow of blood, which may lead to damage in the arteries.
Cognitive Function
The Archives of Internal Medicine in 2008 reports that smoking is associated with an increased chance of poor memory. The subjects' short-term memories were tested when they were given 20 words to recall within two minutes. Reasoning tests included the ability to identify patterns and use rules. Vocabulary was tested using 33 words and multiple choice answers. Current middle-aged smokers, who began smoking at least 12 years prior to the tests, showed the worst performances. Over the next five years, those who continued to smoke also showed an increased risk for dementia.
Good News
The study also researched the memory of ex-smokers. The findings showed that long-term ex-smokers, those who had stopped smoking at least 12 years prior, were less likely to have memory problems than the current smokers. The report concluded that "stopping smoking in middle age [is] associated with improvement in other health behaviors and with little residual adverse effect of smoking on cognition."
Considerations
Putting out your cigarette seems a simple solution to improving your odds against dementia. If you are noticing memory problems, please speak with your doctor. If you need help quitting smoking, your doctor or health care provider can inform you about the options available. Within just two days of quitting smoking, your nerve endings begin to repair.
