Smoking Can Rot Your Brain, Say Researchers

Bangalore: Smoking can harm your mind. Smoking rots the brain by damaging memory, learning and reasoning, says a study by researchers at King's College London.

It was noted that high blood pressure and being overweight also affected the brain, but to a smaller extent. The researchers were examining links between the probability of a heart attack or stroke and the state of the brain, reported Times of India.

Data on the health and lifestyle of a group of over-50s was collected and brain tests like making participants learn new words, etc were also performed. And the participants were then tested again after four and then eight years. The study observed that there was a "consistent association" between smoking and lesser scores in the tests.

The study found that largely the risk of a heart attack or stroke was "significantly associated with cognitive decline" with those at the greatestt risk showing the greatest decline.

Dr Alex Dregan, one of the researchers said to BBC "We have identified a number of risk factors which could be associated with accelerated cognitive decline, all of which could be modifiable. We need to make people aware of the need to do some lifestyle changes because of the risk of cognitive decline."

Also Read: Smoking: The Cause of 100 Million Deaths in India