According to research conducted by scientists from Washington University School of Medicine in the USA, smoking can lead to a decrease in brain volume. results published In Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science.
The research used data from more than 40 thousand people from the British Biobank, the largest repository of human biological samples. The research team analyzed information about the brain volume, smoking history and predisposition to this bad habit of 32,094 people. Brain status was assessed using CT (computed tomography).
It turns out that smoking may actually contribute to decreased brain volume. Moreover, the severity of this effect was dose dependent; The more cigarettes a person smokes per day, the smaller the brain becomes. The authors of the study explained that the decrease in brain volume is a sign of biological aging and a provocateur of the development of dementia.
Scientists also noted that such changes are irreversible. The brain volume of former smokers did not match that of non-smokers, even if they had already quit smoking.
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