Smoking and dementia linked
Researchers from the Australian National University in Canberra have found that people who smoke face a much greater risk of developing all kinds of dementia.
Their paper has been published in The American Journal of Epidemiology.
Associate Professor Kaarin Anstey from the Centre for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University, found that for current smoking there was an increase in dementia risk of between 40% and 80%.
Those who were at most risk of declining brain function were smokers who continued the habit into their middle and later years.
Professor Anstey says the link between smoking and brain decline was found in all kinds of dementia.
