Smoking causes brain shrinkage, but quitting may prevent further loss
- Cigarette smoking causes brain shrinkage, and the more and longer a person smokes, the greater the damage is, according to a new study.
- Loss in brain volume raises the risk of cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.
- Smoking cessation can help stop brain shrinkage, but it cannot be reversed.
- The study authors recommend that anyone at any age who smokes should prioritize quitting.
Cigarette smoking causes the brain to shrink, according to a new study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO (WashUMed).
Brain shrinkage is also associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
The study’s results show that quitting smoking at any time stopped further gray matter loss. However, the brain does not recover its original mass once shrinkage occurs.
It has long been known that smoking is harmful to the lungs and heart, though not as much research has been dedicated to its effect on the brain.
The research team, led by senior author Dr. Laura J. Bierut, director of WashUMed’s Health & Behavior Research Center, aimed to fill a gap in the current understanding of the harmful effects of smoking.
The study’s findings were recently published in Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science.
