Where There's Smoke In Texas, There's The Increased Risk Of Dementia


Diseases and Conditions:

It used to be, "If you got 'em, smoke 'em." But these days, medical professionals in Dallas, Houston and elsewhere in Texas, seriously frown on tobacco use. In fact, more studies and research are pointing out that even secondhand smoke can cause many serious ailments including cancer. Now, according to a recent study, exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke increases the risk of developing dementia in individuals.

In a recent Cardiovascular Health Study -- supported by a grant from the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco -- researchers evaluated 3,602 people age 65 and older, with 985 people who had no cardiovascular disease, no dementia, and were never smokers.

Four hundred and ninety-five people reported their lifetime secondhand smoke exposure, with an average of approximately 28 years. Researchers then evaluated which individuals developed dementia over a six-year period.

Based on preliminary results, the researchers found that elderly people with high lifetime exposure to environmental smoke were approximately 30 percent more likely to develop dementia than those with no lifetime exposure. High exposure, in the case of this study, was defined as exposure to secondhand smoke for more than 30 years.

"We are still conducting analyses to control for other factors that may be influencing these results, but this finding potentially implicates lifetime exposure as a risk factor for dementia in older adults," said study author Thaddeus Haight of UC Berkeley.

The study also found that exposure to secondhand smoke resulted in a greater occurrence of dementia for people who didn't have a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, but who had detectable abnormalities of their carotid arteries, compared to those without these underlying abnormalities.

These abnormalities included narrower carotid arteries and thicker carotid arterial walls. Individuals with these underlying conditions and high lifetime exposure were nearly two-and-a-half times as likely to develop dementia as those with no exposure and no indications of carotid artery disease.

"This is one of the first studies to look at the risk of dementia in people who never smoked, but were exposed to environmental smoke," Haight said. "These results show that exposure is associated with increased risk of dementia, even in people without known risk factors for dementia related to diagnosed cardiovascular disease."

The researchers used statistical methods to assess the associated risk of exposure to independent of its known effects on clinically diagnosed cardiovascular disease. "The fact that there were more people in this study population who were not diagnosed, but had underlying cardiovascular disease compared to people who were diagnosed points to the health risks associated with lifetime exposure in a potentially wider segment of the elderly population," said Haight.

Haight said the study findings provide additional evidence of the hazards of secondhand smoke and provide additional support for policies that seek to reduce the public's exposure to tobacco smoke.

Here are other facts, compiled by the American Lung Association, about secondhand smoke:

- Secondhand smoke has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a known cause of cancer in humans (Group A carcinogen).

- Exposure causes disease and premature death in children and adults who do not smoke. Secondhand smoke contains hundreds of chemicals known to be toxic or carcinogenic, including formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic ammonia and hydrogen cyanide.

- SHS (Second Hand Smoke) causes approximately 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 22,700-69,600 heart disease deaths in adult nonsmokers in the United States each year.

- A study found that nonsmokers exposed to environmental smoke were 25 percent more likely to have coronary heart diseases, compared to nonsmokers not exposed to smoke.

- Nonsmokers exposed to environmental smoke at work are at increased risk for adverse health effects. Levels of secondhand smoke in restaurants and bars were found to be 2 to 5 times higher than in residences with smokers and 2 to 6 times higher than in office workplaces.

- Workplace productivity was increased and absenteeism was decreased among former smokers, compared to current smokers

- Smoke is especially harmful to young children. Secondhand smoke is responsible for between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in infants and children under 18 months of age, resulting in between 7,500 and 15,000 hospitalizations each year, and causes 1,900 to 2,700 sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) deaths in the United States annually.

- Environmental smoke exposure may cause buildup of fluid in the middle ear, resulting in 700,000 to 1.6 million physician office visits per year. Smoke can also aggravate symptoms in 400,000 to 1,000,000 children with asthma.

- New research indicates that private research conducted by cigarette company Philip Morris in the 1980s showed that environmental smoke was highly toxic, yet the company suppressed the finding during the next two decades.

- The current Surgeon General's Report concluded that scientific evidence indicates that there is no risk-free level of exposure to smoke. Short exposures to environmental smoke can cause blood platelets to become stickier, damage the lining of blood vessels, decrease coronary flow velocity reserves, and reduce heart rate variability, potentially increasing the risk of heart attack.

Pat Carpenter writes for Precedent Insurance Company. Precedent puts a new spin on health insurance. Learn more at Precedent.com


Hot Topics In Diseases and Conditions

    Dual Diagnosis And Drug Addiction In A Knot

    Will you call mental instability a precursor of getting addicted to drugs? Or mental unhealthiness is an aftermath of drug addiction -which one will you go for?

    Well let's not go into this debate t...

    Medical Testings Required For Acid Reflux Symptoms

    If you have acid reflux symptoms, it is best to visit the doctor for a proper diagnosis. Your doctor would have to check how serious your condition is by ordering a series of tests. He can then prescr...

    The Modern Man's Guide to Prostate Treatments

    Benign prostate enlargement (BPH) - also known as benign enlargement of the prostate (BEP), benign prostatic hypertrophy or odular hyperplasia - is a common ailment suffered by middle-aged and elderly...

    Impact of Denied Alzheimer's Drugs Praised

    Alzheimer's drugs which are currently being denied to some NHS patients may have a dramatic impact on the pathology of the brain according to researchers in the UK. Campaigners are fighting to get cho...

    What Causes Dandruff?

    Dandruff is one of the most common scalp problems. But it is surprising that no precise cause off dandruff is known. There is therefore no cure for dandruff, but you can treat it whenever it shows. Th...

    Treat Your Eczema At Home

    Learning to treat your eczema and gain relief at home can provide you with freedom that you may not otherwise experience. A surprising number of Eczema sufferers are realizing that the treatments they...

    Where There's Smoke In Texas, There's The Increased Risk Of Dementia

    It used to be, "If you got 'em, smoke 'em." But these days, medical professionals in Dallas, Houston and elsewhere in Texas, seriously frown on tobacco use. In fact, more studies and research are poin...

    Skin Care- Do You Sweat Excessively?

    If you feel that you sweat excessively, please consult your doctor and find out. There is no measurement of normal sweating. So each of us have to find out if we are sweating excessively, normally or ...

    Symptoms And Stages Of Alzheimer's Disease

    Alzheimer's is a disease that developers very slowly over a number of years. Some of these changes occur in the brain long before any noticeable symptoms of Alzheimer's present. Alzheimer's stages hav...

    Finding the Right Natural Treatment For Your Dry Skin

    Finding the best natural treatment for your dry skin can be a discouraging process. But knowing the facts and what has worked for others can be a big help and usually some simple cheap natural treatme...

    Selecting the Best Wrinkle Cream

    When you are fighting to look as young and healthy as possible, you always want to make the right choices to maximize your results, and for many this means asking the question why are some wrinkle cre...

    Help I Am Allergic To The Sun

    If you are allergic to the Sun then you have allergies type 4 also called cell-mediated or delayed allergies. This allergy type usually shows up on the back of the neck, outside surface of the arms, o...

Most Recent Diseases and Conditions Supplements

Interesting Today:

Most Recent Blogs:

Releated to Diseases and Conditions:

Diseases and Conditions Links:

Diseases and Conditions Diseases and Conditions Rss feeds.