Many smokers worry that if they stop smoking they will gain weight. While this concern is understandable, new research suggests that quitting is still one of the healthiest choices a person can make.
A large study has found that people who stop smoking may lower their risk of dementia, especially if they avoid gaining a large amount of weight afterward. The study was published in Neurology.
Scientists studied more than 32,000 middle-aged and older adults over an average of 10 years. None had dementia when the research began.
Throughout the study, participants regularly answered questions about smoking, body weight and their health. Their memory and thinking abilities were also assessed so researchers could identify new cases of dementia.
By the end of the study, nearly 6,000 participants had developed dementia. When researchers compared the different groups, they found that people who had quit smoking were about 16% less likely to develop dementia than those who continued smoking.
Even more encouraging, the protective effect became stronger the longer people stayed away from cigarettes. After several years, former smokers had a dementia risk that closely matched people who had never smoked.
Body weight made an important difference. Small or moderate weight gain after quitting did not appear to reduce the brain benefits. However, people who gained more than 10 kilograms after quitting no longer showed the same lower dementia risk. This suggests that healthy lifestyle habits after quitting may help people receive the greatest long-term benefits.
Researchers emphasize that the findings should not discourage anyone from quitting smoking. The health benefits of stopping smoking are already well established, including lower risks of heart disease, stroke, lung disease and many cancers.
Instead, the study suggests that adding healthy eating, regular exercise and weight management after quitting may provide even greater protection, including for brain health as people age.
Although more research is needed to understand exactly why weight changes influence dementia risk, the message is clear: quitting smoking is an investment in both physical and brain health, and maintaining a healthy weight afterward may help those benefits last for many years.
This study followed more than 32,000 adults for about 10 years, making it one of the larger studies examining smoking, weight changes and brain health. The long follow-up strengthens the findings because dementia develops slowly over many years.
However, this was an observational study, so it cannot prove that quitting smoking directly prevents dementia. Smoking habits and body weight were also self-reported, which may have introduced some errors.
Even with these limitations, the findings provide reassuring evidence that quitting smoking is linked to better long-term brain health, especially when people avoid major weight gain by following a healthy diet and staying physically active after quitting.
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Source: Zhejiang University School of Medicine.
