Despite long-standing campaigns against cigarette smoking, around 25 million Americans still use cigarettes and millions more are vaping tobacco. Smoking and secondhand smoke cause almost half a million deaths a year in the U.S. and contribute to various diseases.
Quitting Smoking Reduces Dementia Risk
A study in Neurology found that folks who quit smoking reduce their risk for dementia by 16% compared to regular smokers. The study looked at 25 years of data on about 33,000 people and saw that those who stopped smoking, without gaining more than 10 pounds, were significantly less likely to develop dementia.
However, folks who quit but gained 22 pounds or more after stopping received no protection from dementia, as overweight and obesity are their own dementia risks. If you want help quitting tobacco and nicotine, you can visit smokefree.gov and cdc.gov/tobacco/about/how-to-quit.html for resources.
Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.
