Doctors could try to motivate middle aged and older adults to quit smoking by telling them that stopping at any age can have meaningful benefits for cognition, say researchers.
A longitudinal study using cognitive outcomes over 18 years showed that in middle aged and older smokers with initially similar cognitive trajectories, those who quit smoking during the study showed a slower cognitive decline after stopping than matched individuals who carried on smoking.1
Mikaela Bloomberg, lead author and senior research fellow at University College London’s Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, said, “Our study suggests that quitting smoking may help people to maintain better cognitive health over the long term, even when we are in our 50s or older when we …
