We all know that smoking,
vaping, chewing tobacco is bad for us. According to the World Health
Organization tobacco dependence is the leading cause of preventable death
globally, causing an estimated 5 million deaths per year and worldwide medical
costs ranging in billions of US dollars. Tobacco is the major risk factor for a
number of conditions, including many types of cancers, cardiovascular diseases
(CVDs) and risk factors, and respiratory disorders and tobacco cessation has
been demonstrated to significantly reduce these health risks. What I did not
know is that tobacco dependence is also associated with other disorders and
age-related conditions, such as frailty and workability in older people, as
well as dementia and cognitive decline.
Quitting tobacco has also
been associated with reduced depression, anxiety and stress, and improved mood
and quality of life compared with continuing to smoke. Interventions to treat
tobacco dependence can be very diverse, based on either or both behavioural/
psychological strategies and various pharmacological treatments. Counselling is
the most frequently used approach, but others have also been explored, such as
mindfulness-based approaches, cognitive behavioural therapy, behavioural
activation therapy, motivational interviewing, contingency management, and
exposure and/or aversion to smoking.
Among the therapies
for tobacco cessation, nicotine replacement therapy, bupropion and varenicline
are the most common. Combinations of
non-pharmacological and pharmacological approaches seem to be the most
effective in supporting tobacco cessation.
If you are a smoker you know
that you should quit. I believe that our governments should fund appropriate programmes aimed
at preventing tobacco use uptake and focus on programs that are promoting quitting.
There is a growing body of
evidence available on how tobacco smoking is a risk factor for cognitive
impairment and dementia. These studies show an association between tobacco
smoking (including in mid-life) and dementia, or cognitive decline, in later
life. It is never too late to quit. Continuing to smoke is more detrimental than
beneficial to your health.
The evidence is strong, mid-life
smoking is correlated to a higher risk of late-life dementia. Experimental
laboratory results are in keeping with the observational evidence suggests that
smoking causes brain damage, underpinning subsequent cognitive decline.
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