With Dementia being in the top 5 causes of death, its causes and risk factors need to be determined. If it can be avoided or slowed down in any way it behooves us to know how. Today’s excerpt provides important information.
In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a report entitled “Tobacco Use & Dementia,” based on a comprehensive scientific review of tobacco use, exposure to secondhand smoke, and incidence rates for all types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s.
The report found that smokers have a 45 percent higher risk of developing dementia than non-smokers, and concluded that 14 percent of all Alzheimer’s cases worldwide may potentially be attributed to smoking.
These risks hold true across nearly every income level and geographic boundary—including US, China, India, and Latin America. Smokers with dementia also die earlier than non-smokers with dementia.
Smoking is thought to cause dementia by the same biological mechanisms as its contribution to coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, and stroke, namely by promoting the following three pathological processes:
- Increasing total plasma homocysteine, which is a known risk factor for stroke, cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s, and other dementias
- Accelerating atherosclerosis in your heart and brain, which deprives your brain cells of oxygen and important nutrients. Arterial stiffness is associated with the buildup of beta-amyloid plaque in your brain, which is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease
- Oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, neural death, and inflammation that may directly or indirectly be related to brain changes seen in people with Alzheimer’s
Source: “Smoking Is Major Factor in Alzheimer’s Disease.” By Dr. Mercola. http://www.mercola.com