The Ministry of Health warns: smoking reduces the risk of developing Parkinsonism!
Studies conducted earlier by several groups of scientists pointed to the fact that smokers are less at risk of developing Parkinsonism than non-smokers. Exactly which aspect of this habit plays a role in reducing the risk of developing Parkinsonism remained unclear.
In the article Smoking duration, intensity, and risk of Parkinson's disease, published on March 10 in the journal NEUROLOGY, scientists from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, USA, working under the leadership of Honglei Chen, present the results of the analysis of questionnaires of 305468 members of the non-governmental organization "American Association of Retired Persons" (American Association of Retired Persons, AARP) between the ages of 50 and 71. After 10 years, 0.5% of the participants (1,662 people) developed Parkinson's disease. The survey, taking into account information about the nutrition and lifestyle of these people, was conducted twice: upon joining the organization and ten years later.
Scientists found that those who smoked for 40 years or more had a 46% lower risk of developing Parkinsonism than non-smokers; smokers with 30-39 years of experience had a 35% lower risk. Those who had the willpower to quit smoking had a 22% lower risk of acquiring Parkinson's disease than non-smokers, and people who smoked for 9 years or less had an 8% lower risk of developing Parkinsonism. At the same time, the number of cigarettes smoked daily was not associated with the risk of developing Parkinsonism.
Chen notes that, according to the studies conducted, smoking did not affect either the rate of progression of Parkinson's disease, if it had already begun, or mortality from the disease. For this reason, it makes no sense to use nicotine or other substances contained in tobacco to treat parkinsonism. And to recommend smoking as a means of prevention, no doctor's hand will rise. But the study conducted by Chen's group can serve as a starting point for conducting animal experiments aimed at studying the relationship between smoking and the development of Parkinsonism, as well as for finding drugs that do not have pronounced side effects for the prevention of Parkinson's disease.
Daria Chervyakova
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru According to ScienceDaily: Years of Smoking Associated With Lower Parkinson's Risk, Not Number of Cigarettes Per Day
18.03.2010