Smoking Slows Memory, Reasoning in Middle-Aged Men

[Jeebus]

New evidence suggests that smoking isn't only bad for the body but can also take a toll on the mind.

A study published today in the Archives of General Psychiatry linked smoking to faster, more dramatic age-related mental decline in men. Researchers from University College in London studied more than 5,000 men and 2,000 women from Britain's long-running Whitehall II study, which has surveyed the health of thousands of British civil service employees.

The researchers studied each participant's performance on tests of memory, verbal skills and reasoning over a period of 10 years, beginning when the participants were about 56 years old. They found that men who smoked showed a greater decline in these mental functions than those who had never smoked.

Well this explains a lot.

[zenwalk]

Actually, it doesn't. Smoking's effect on the brain is controversial. As many studies prove it helps cognitive difficulties as much as it complicates it. What makes these studies more problematic is the pressure to come up with data that proves smoking is bad for everything. BTW you might like to post a link. Maybe if you have a Marlboro you'll remember next time.

[Jeebus]

Actually, it doesn't. Smoking's effect on the brain is controversial. As many studies prove it helps cognitive difficulties as much as it complicates it. What makes these studies more problematic is the pressure to come up with data that proves smoking is bad for everything. BTW you might like to post a link. Maybe if you have a Marlboro you'll remember next time.

Would you like a link from:

ABC?

Huffington Post?

Hindu Times?

Ghana Web?

Fox News?

Medical News Today?

CBS News?

eMaxHealth?

HealthJockey?

DailyGossip?

Time?

Pick whichever one fits your political agenda.

[betamanlet]

Taht's funny because the studies show that nicotine delays dementia.

[Bill Angel]

Nicotine delays dementia?
OK..Let's assume for the sake of argument that is a valid assertion, and conceivably that doctors might prescribe nicotine meds for persons at risk for dementia. That does not mitigate the fact that cigarettes are a lousy delivery method for nicotine because of all the other crap that is carried into the body with it, like radioactive polonium.

[Passerine]

Also assuming the argument is a valid assertion:

Certainly the risks of long-term nicotine use (as nicotine itself is mutagenic) would seemingly outweigh the benefits of use, though perhaps for older individuals the hypothetical increase in quality-of-life would offset the possibly shortened lifespan.

[betamanlet]

Nicotine delays dementia?
OK..Let's assume for the sake of argument that is a valid assertion, and conceivably that doctors might prescribe nicotine meds for persons at risk for dementia. That does not mitigate the fact that cigarettes are a lousy delivery method for nicotine because of all the other crap that is carried into the body with it, like radioactive polonium.

So why do some employers ban any nicotine, from whatever source, as a condition of employment? This nicotine patch would bar people from employment at many hospitals.

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16145842

[crabsnbeer]

http://www.love-sessions.com/turn_off.htm

Plus smoking is major turn off is you are looking for a date

[betamanlet]

Don't 50% of americans have HPV? That's a pretty big turnoff.

[crabsnbeer]

Don't 50% of americans have HPV? That's a pretty big turnoff.

Well I guess you dodged that bullet.

[dialtone]

Well I guess you dodged that bullet.

LOL, that was funny

[TommyT]

But didnt another report state that smoking accelerated short term memory? I'm guessing remembering the last cig which accelerated other short term "stuff".

[Retired Ramp Guy]

Well this explains a lot.

(They found that men who smoked showed a greater decline in these mental functions than those who had never smoked)

So are they going to use Albert Einstein as their poster boy.....


http://www.flickr.com/photos/43248710@N05/6268292347/

[HumanSpirit]

Those that use Statin drugs constitute a sure bet for the WallStreet investor and the Nursing homes more so then any cigarette.

[georjec2]

Well this explains a lot.

Then explain this:

Albert Einstein
Edwin Hubble
Franklin Roosevelt
Johnny Cash
Johnny Depp
Bob Dylan
John Lennon
Freddie Mercury
Edward R Murrow
Jack Nicholson
Frank Sinatra
Fidel Castro
Bill Cosby
John Kennedy
Michael Jordan
Claude Monet
Orson Wells
Douglas MacArthur
Norman Rockwell
Robert Oppenheimer
J.R.R. Tolkien
Bertrand Russell
Vincent Van Gough
George Burns
Winston Churchill
Robert DeNiro
Sigmund Freud
Milton Berle
Pete Rose
Clint Eastwood

and drum rollllllll

Rush Limbaugh !

Sometimes it's more important to believe what you can see and reason through your own experience than what you can read in a biased study that often fails to take other variables in to consideration.

[georjec2]

http://www.love-sessions.com/turn_off.htm

Plus smoking is major turn off is you are looking for a date

Unless you're Johnny Depp or Michael Jordan.

[SteelFaninBMore]

Nicotine delays dementia?
OK..Let's assume for the sake of argument that is a valid assertion, and conceivably that doctors might prescribe nicotine meds for persons at risk for dementia. That does not mitigate the fact that cigarettes are a lousy delivery method for nicotine because of all the other crap that is carried into the body with it, like radioactive polonium.

It is a valid assertion, and has been for several years. That said, no one is suggesting that this relatively small benefit outweighs the various risks and negative effects of smoking.

We're just perplex at studies that show smoking can be beneficial to memory functions in the elderly, while at the same time having negative effects on the memory of middle-aged people. While it's possible that both of these statements are true, it seems very unlikely.

[Hexexis]

Well this explains a lot.

America's firm faith in "studies" (except where superseded by the Bible, the zodiac, or ancient Indian calendars) & its desperate effort to conform to every statistical & scientific "fact" explains even more.

Armed w/ that, we leap into the fray & proceed to show our love for every moussey, dyspeptic carny barker in a suit & his alky- & drug-induced "opinions." Then, when our boy's faded into obscurity or the lecture circuit, we hunt for more "studies," to occupy us until the next circus rolls into town.

[Hexexis]

Then explain this: ...Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell on Smoking ... after 70 Years of It.

[Kenect2]

Well I guess you dodged that bullet.

Baahahahahahaha!!!!

Beta, look into vaccinations.