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Smokers have greater chances of having dementia

smokers have a higher risk of dementia

Scientists have claimed that that those people who smoke have more chances of having Alzheimer’s disease & other types of dementia in comparison to those who don’t smoke or have quit the smoking habit.

Researchers discovered that those people who smoke and above the age of 55 have 50% more chances of having the problem of dementia in comparison to people who don’t smoke.

The lead researcher of the study is Dr Monique Breteler. He mentioned that they monitored approximately 7,000 people aged 55 and above for nearly 7 years.

During that time nearly 706 of the people got the problem of dementia. A specific gene which increases the chances of developing dementia is known as APOE4 or apolipoprotein E4.

Cigarette smoking didn’t put any affect on the chances of developing Alzheimer’s in those people who have this specific gene. But those people who don’t have this gene and also smoke have 70% greater chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Heart strokes are associated with dementia — Smoking can also lead to stokes and thus it harms the brain and as a result develops dementia.

Smoking raises the chances of developing a problem called cerebrovascular disease or stroke, that can also linked to dementia.

Other method is – oxidative stress that can cause harm to the cells which are present in the blood vessels & thus results in making the arteries firm or solid. People who smoke have higher oxidative stress in comparison to people who don’t smoke, & higher oxidative stress is also marked in case of Alzheimer’s disease.

The oxidative stress is a procedure very similar to that of rusting and in this the chemical action & reactions cause harms to the DNA.

The report appeared in the journal Neurology.

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