TUESDAY, May 26, 2026 (NewsDay News) — Quitting smoking is associated with a lower risk of dementia, especially for those who gain little or no weight after quitting, according to a study published online May 20. Neurology.
Hui Chen, MD, of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Hangzhou, China, and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study using data from 32,802 adults with dementia from the US Health and Pensions Survey (1995 to 2020). with long-term dementia risk and cognitive trajectories.
The researchers found that 5,868 cases of dementia were documented during the 25 years of follow-up. Individuals who had quit during follow-up had a statistically significant lower risk of dementia after quitting than current smokers compared to those who had previously quit smoking and never smoked. The benefits of weight loss were mainly observed for those who did not gain weight (≤5 kg) during the two years after weight loss, while a statistically significant association was observed for weight loss with weight gain of more than 10 kg. The risk of dementia decreased the longer it took to quit, and the risk of never-smokers decreased for about seven years after quitting. Slower long-term cognitive decline but no transient cognitive change was observed in association with dropout (slope difference, 0.19 points per decade), especially among those who were underweight (slope difference, 0.23 per decade).
“Our findings suggest that smoking cessation can support long-term brain health, but they also highlight what happens after smoking cessation,” Chen said in a statement.
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