Health
Smoking shrinks the brain and drives up Alzheimer’s risk, new study finds
Smoking is notorious for causing damage to the lungs — but a recent study confirmed that it’s also harmful to the brain.
Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine (WashUMed) in St. Louis, Missouri, analyzed the brain scans, smoking history and genetic risk of 32,094 participants of European descent from the UK Biobank database.
Those who smoked one pack daily were found to have decreased brain volume compared to those who never smoked or had smoked fewer than 100 total cigarettes.
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With each additional year of smoking, the shrinkage was greater.
The study, published in the January 2024 issue of Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, helps to explain why older people who smoke are at a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, according to the researchers.
Smoking is notorious for causing damage to the lungs, but recent research confirmed that it is also harmful to the brain. (iStock)
“People who smoke are more likely to have deterioration in gray and white matter, which provides a possible explanation as to why 14% of global Alzheimer’s disease cases could be attributable to cigarette smoking,” they wrote in the study findings.
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“Up until recently, scientists overlooked the effects of smoking on the brain, in part because we were focused on all the terrible effects of smoking on the lungs and the heart,” said senior author Laura J. Bierut, M.D., the Alumni Endowed Professor of Psychiatry, in a press release from WashUMed.
“But as we’ve started looking at the brain more closely, it’s become apparent that smoking is also really bad for your brain.”
Those who smoked one pack daily were found to have decreased brain volume compared to those who never smoked or had smoked fewer than 100 total cigarettes. (iStock)
It has long been known that aging is linked to a gradual reduction in brain volume, and this study shows that smoking speeds up that process, the researchers noted.
“This is important as our population gets older, because aging and smoking are both risk factors for dementia,” noted Bierut.
“There’s one thing you can change to stop aging your brain and putting yourself at increased risk of dementia, and that’s to quit smoking.”
One positive finding was that kicking the habit can prevent the loss of additional brain tissue — but the shrinkage can’t be reversed.
“You can’t undo the damage that has already been done, but you can avoid causing further damage,” said first author Yoonhoo Chang, a graduate student at WashUMed.
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“Smoking is a modifiable risk factor. There’s one thing you can change to stop aging your brain and putting yourself at increased risk of dementia, and that’s to quit smoking.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the study authors for additional comment.
Impact of toxins on aging
Dr. Brett Osborn, neurosurgery section chief at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, was not involved in the WashUMed study but shared his reaction to the findings.
While aging — and some age-related diseases — can’t be prevented, Osborn noted that our lifestyle choices can accelerate or decelerate the process.
Dr. Brett Osborn, neurosurgery section chief at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, shared his reaction to the study findings. (Dr. Brett Osborn)
“We can age gracefully in part by choosing to avoid toxins such as alcohol and smoking, both of which increase the production of toxic free radicals, also known as oxidative stress,” he told Fox News Digital.
When someone smokes, the doctor explained, the person’s blood vessel linings are “bombarded” by free radicals, which are electrons that cause cell damage. That impacts not only the heart and lungs, but also the brain.
“When you smoke, the brain takes a hit due to the induced vascular damage,” Osborn said. “Over time, the brain shrinks, and this is evident on MRI.”
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The new study confirms not only the correlation between reduced global brain volume, but also causation, said Osborn.
“It is not that those with reduced global brain volume tend to smoke from a genetic standpoint, but it is that those who smoke cause their brains to atrophy,” he said.
“Smoking does terrible things not only to the body but also to the brain, and in some parts, disproportionately more than others.”
“Smoking does terrible things not only to the body but also to the brain, and in some parts, disproportionately more than others,” a neurologist told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
The regions most affected by smoking are the frontal cortex (involved in executive function, memory input and mood), cerebellum (coordination), corpus callosum (information bridge between the two hemispheres), and amygdala (emotional response and memory), Osborn pointed out.
“It is also well-established that hippocampal volume, or the volume of our primary center, is reduced in daily smokers,” he said. “It should be no surprise, therefore, that there is an increased incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in smokers.”
“Smoking does terrible things not only to the body but also to the brain.”
While other organs, such as the lungs, can recover after a person quits smoking, there are no subsequent increases in brain volume, said Osborn.
“The brain demonstrates a lower capacity for recovery, so the best you can hope for is a deceleration in induced damage when you stop,” he said. “So, the sooner you quit, the better.”
The study helps to explain why older people who smoke are at a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, according to the researchers. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo)
“Remember, staying healthy lifelong is about making the right choices to mitigate the cellular damage that is the hallmark of the disease we call aging, to which no one is immune,” Osborn added.
“Do everything in your power to slow it down, rather than accelerating the process by smoking.”
One out of every five U.S. deaths can be attributed to smoking, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Tips for kicking the habit
Dr. David Seitz, a New York-based physician with a specialty in addiction medicine, previously shared with Fox News Digital some tips for kicking the habit.
The first step is to remove all traces of cigarettes and other forms of smoking.
It’s also important to have a strong support system in place, the doctor said.
Some people find that it’s easier to gradually wean themselves off smoking instead of quitting cold turkey. (iStock)
He also suggested seeking out healthier activities to fill the gap, such as walking or jogging, listening to a relaxing playlist, meditating or going to a yoga class.
Some people find that it’s easier to gradually wean themselves off smoking instead of quitting cold turkey.
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“This could involve gradually reducing the number of cigarettes smoked each day until eventually giving up completely, cutting back to a certain number of cigarettes per week or focusing on specific dates when you need to be completely smoke-free,” Seitz said.
For those who are unable to stop smoking on their own, Seitz recommended seeing a doctor for assistance.
“Your doctor can provide helpful information about how to quit smoking, prescribe medications that may help, and also monitor your progress along the way.”
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Singer LeAnn Rimes has gone viral for her reaction while receiving jaw release therapy.
In a session with Garry Lineham, co-founder of Human Garage in California — a resource for self-healing practices — Rimes received an intra-oral massage, releasing the tension in her jaw. She seemed to instantly feel relief, sobbing on the table.
Jaw release therapy, which involves the massaging or stretching of muscles in the face, is popular for relieving TMJ pain, headaches and jaw clicking, according to experts.
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In an interview with Fox News Digital, Lineham shared that stress has an immense impact on human health, especially on muscle tension and pain.
“We hold emotions in our body,” he said. “Emotions cause a sympathetic response or a stress response in the body.”
“When you release the jaw, instantaneously you come out of that fight or flight mode,” Lineham said. (iStock)
“Stress is one thing that impacts every disease, whether it’s emotional or physical, whether it is genetic,” he went on. “Stress is the thing that makes genetics pop. If you take away stress, those genetic markers no longer express themselves.”
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Clenching the jaw can create stress, which happens naturally with physical and emotional exertion, according to Lineham.
“If you clench your jaw and hold it there for three to five minutes … you’ll actually fire adrenaline and norepinephrine (hormones and neurotransmitters),” he said.
This sends a message to the body that you’re bracing for an “attack,” releasing hormones like stress, Lineham added.
“When you release the jaw, then instantaneously you come out of fight or flight mode.”
How jaw release works
Jaw release therapy targets the fascia, or the connective tissue that supports the body’s muscles, organs and joints. Stretching the fascia also allows the muscle to stretch, providing relief, Lineham said.
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“When you release the jaw, then instantaneously you come out of that fight or flight mode,” he said. “And if you’ve been there for a long time, like most people have, it instantaneously shocks the nervous system in a good way.”
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Dr. Justin Richer, oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Riverside Oral Surgery in New Jersey, shared the benefits and risks of jaw release treatment with Fox News Digital.
Jaw release therapy can help with facial pain and muscle tightness. (iStock)
Certain muscles in the body, such as the shoulder or back, can tense up and “overreact to problems that are going on within them,” said the doctor, who did not treat Rimes.
“Jaw release is almost like a massage or similar technique, to put pressure on the muscles and let the tension that’s built up just kind of relax away,” he said. “It’s not something that a lot of people do.”
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The procedure is most beneficial for those with symptoms of TMJ, facial and muscle pain, and tightness, according to Richer.
Some physical therapists and massage therapists offer this treatment, but Richer recommends seeking help from an oral-facial pain specialist or surgeon who “really understands the anatomy of the jaw joint.”
Dr. Richer recommends seeing an oral surgeon or specialist before seeking the procedure. (iStock)
“If it’s done properly, there’s very minimal risk,” he said. “What we get concerned about is undue manipulation of the joint, so either cracking or distorting or trying to forcefully move the joint . . . that can actually cause undue harm from an orthopedic perspective.”
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Despite the benefits, Richer stressed that this kind of therapy may be a temporary fix, as it could be treating only the symptoms of an underlying problem.
“Get a diagnosis first before you go ahead and start manipulating things,” he advised.
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Losing weight might be as simple as sticking to the meals you know, a new study found.
People who ate the same meals more often lost more weight during a 12-week weight-loss program, according to a new study published in Health Psychology.
“Maintaining a healthy diet in today’s food environment requires constant effort and self-control,” lead author Charlotte Hagerman of the Oregon Research Institute said in a statement.
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“Creating routines around eating may reduce that burden and make healthy choices feel more automatic.”
Experts say maintaining muscle after 50 may require more protein than the minimum federal guideline. (iStock)
Hagerman and fellow researchers from Drexel University and the Oregon Research Institute analyzed food logs from 112 adults who were overweight or obese who tracked their meals in an app and weighed themselves daily, according to the study.
The researchers measured “routinized” eating in two main ways —how much participants’ daily calorie intake fluctuated and how often they repeated the same meals and snacks over time, according to the paper.
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Those whose diets included more repeated foods lost an average of 5.9% of their body weight compared to 4.3% for those whose eating patterns were more varied, according to a press release from the American Psychological Association.
A man shows how much weight he has lost by holding out the waist of his jeans, symbolizing his successful diet. (iStock)
People who kept their daily calorie intake more consistent also lost more weight, according to the researchers.
Liza Baker, a Vermont-based nutrition expert and founder of Simply: Health Coaching, said the findings line up with what she has seen firsthand in more than a decade of working with clients.
“Removing the mental load of ‘What’s for breakfast, lunch or dinner?’ can make the wellness journey much more sustainable,” Baker told Fox News Digital.
A breakfast of oatmeal porridge with summer berries. (iStock)
She said repeat meals can reduce decision fatigue and make it easier for people to stick to healthier habits, especially when they are packing lunches, cooking at home and following a simple routine.
Baker said people do not necessarily have to repeat every meal to see benefits.
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“One can start by eating one meal that is repetitive, usually breakfast or lunch,” she said. “As results start to show, it’s then more conducive to increasing to two to three repetitive meals a day.”
At the same time, experts cautioned that the findings do not prove cause and effect. The study was observational, meaning it found an association between routine eating and greater weight loss but could not show that repetition alone caused the better results, according to the researchers.
Consistency — not variety — may be key when it comes to weight loss, researchers found. (iStock)
Baker also warned that repeat meal plans can backfire if they are not nutritionally balanced or if they trigger perfectionism.
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“Unless someone is well-versed in nutrition, setting up a repeat meal plan can quickly become a nutritional nightmare that leads to becoming deficient in one or more nutrients,” she said.
The study authors similarly noted that too little variety could come with trade-offs. Future research is needed to determine whether a more repetitive diet should be actively recommended as a weight-loss strategy, they said.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the study’s authors for comment.
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