Sabia's team looked for possible links between smoking history and cognitive decline in the transition from midlife to old age using data from 5,099 men and 2,137 women, who are involved in a large research project called the Whitehall II study, which is based on employees of the British Civil Service.
The average age of those taking part was 56 when they had their first cognitive assessment.
The study used six assessments of smoking status over 25 years and three cognitive assessments over 10 years, and found that smokers showed a cognitive decline as fast as non-smokers 10 years older.
"A 50-year-old male smoker shows a similar cognitive decline as a 60-year-old male never smoker," Sabia said.
She also found that men who quit smoking in the 10 years before the first cognitive testing point were still at risk of greater cognitive decline, especially in executive function – which covers various complex cognitive processes involved in achieving a particular goal.
Long-term ex-smokers, however, did not show a faster decline in their brain functions or cognitive abilities.
Sabia says more research is now needed to find out why there was a difference between men and women in this study, and to look into possible mechanisms that might link declining brain function to smoking.
Questions:
1. What link was made between male smokers and brain function?
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