Men who smoke suffer a more rapid decline in brain function as they age than their non-smoking counterparts, with their cognitive decline as rapid as someone 10 years older but who shuns tobacco, scientists said on Monday.
In a large, long-term study, British researchers found that while there seems to be no link between cognitive decline and smoking in women, in men, the habit is linked to swifter decline, with early dementia-like cognitive difficulties showing up as early as the age of 45.
The research adds to an already large body of evidence about the long-term dangers of smoking - a habit the World Health Organization refers to as "one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced."
Smoking causes lung cancer, which is often fatal, and other chronic respiratory diseases. It is also a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, the world's number one killers.
"While we were aware that smoking is a risk factor for respiratory disease, cancer, and cardiovascular disease, this study shows it also has a detrimental effect on cognitive aging and this is evident as early as 45 years," says Severine Sabia of University College London, who led the study and published it in the Archives of General Psychiatry journal.
In an interview, she said one explanation for the gender difference found in this study might be the larger amount of tobacco smoked by men, or the fact that there was a significantly lower proportion of women than men among those involved in the research.
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?
2. When do symptoms appear?
3. What else is linked to smoking?
Answers:
1.Men who smoke suffer a more rapid decline in brain function as they age than their non-smoking counterparts.
2.Early dementia-like cognitive difficulties show up as early as the age of 45.
3.Smoking causes lung cancer, which is often fatal, and other chronic respiratory diseases. It is also a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.
新人教版英语高二下Module 8《Unit 5 Meeting your ancestors》word同步测试
新人教版英语高二上期末测试(一)
新人教版英语高二上期末测试
高二英语(Test of Unit 15—16)单元测试
牛津高二实验版模块五 Unit 1单元测试
高二Unit 16 The United States of America 单元测试题
新人教版英语高二上期末测试(二)
新人教版英语高二下Module 7《Unit 4 Sharing》word同步测试(一)
2013北师大版高二下Unit 21《Human Biology》word单元测试
2013北师大版高二下Unit 22《Environmental Protection》word单元测试
2013新人教版英语高二下期末测试4
新人教版英语高二下Module 8《Unit 4 Pygmalion》word同步测试
高二新课标英语同步测试(Unit 5)
高二Unit 15 Destinations单元测试题
2013北师大版高二下Unit 20《New Frontiers》word单元测试
牛津译林版英语高二上册Module 5《Unit 1 Getting along with others》word同步测试
高二·Unit 11一词多义一句练
新人教版英语高二下Module 8《Unit 2 Cloning》word同步测试
牛津译林版英语高二上册Module 5《Unit 2 The environment》word同步测试
新人教版英语高二下单元测试-module 7 Unit2
新人教版英语高二上期中测试(一)
新人教版英语高二下单元测试-module 7 Unit1
牛津译林版英语高二上册Module 5《Unit 1 Getting along with others》word周练
新人教版英语高二上Module 5《Unit 1 Great Scientists》word同步测试(一)
新人教版英语高二下单元测试-Module 8月考
2013新人教版英语高二下期末测试3
新人教版英语高二下Module 7《Unit 1 Living well》word同步测试(一)
高二英语周练
新人教版英语高二下Module 7《Unit 1 Living well》word同步测试
新人教版英语高二下Module 7《Unit 5 Travelling abroad》word同步测试
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |