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If you want to
keep your brain
working properly
as you age, you
have to go easy
on your alcohol
consumption. But
even if you give
up alcohol
entirely,
scientists have
found another
regrettable
habit that makes
it harder to
keep your memory
in working order
as you grow
older.
A study at
the University
of California,
San Francisco,
shows that
people who give
up heavy
drinking but
still smoke
cigarettes have
brains that age
more quickly.
The research
demonstrates
that abstaining
drinkers
who continue to
smoke experience
more mental
difficulties,
are hampered in
their ability to
think
efficiently and
quickly, and
possess poorer
problem-solving
skills than
those who can
stop smoking.
And those brain problems get worse as they age. “Several factors – nutrition, exercise, comorbid medical conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, psychiatric conditions such as depressive disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder, and genetic predispositions – may also influence cognitive functioning during early abstinence,” says researcher Timothy C. Durazzo. When the scientists tested the intellectual capacities of people with alcohol problems who had stopped imbibing, they found that non-smokers easily outperformed their smoking counterparts. “The independent and interactive effects of smoking and other drug use on cognitive functioning among individuals with AD (alcohol dependency) are largely unknown,” adds Alecia Dager, associate research scientist in the department of psychiatry at Yale University who also took part in the research. “This is problematic because many heavy drinkers also smoke. Furthermore, in treatment programs for alcoholism, the issue of smoking may be largely ignored. This study provides evidence of greater cognitive difficulties in alcoholics who also smoke, which could offer important insights for treatment programs.” The scientists warn that both excessive alcohol consumption and smoking do oxidative damage to the brain. Smoking increases the levels of free radicals (harmful molecules) in brain tissue. That process directly damages neurons. |
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