Over the years, we have all read many articles about the dangers of smoking cigarettes to our general health. The ingredients in the cigarettes have been linked to a variety of cancers, lung disease, heart disease and hormonal imbalances. These medical problems are estimated to be the cause of over 400,000 American deaths per year.
Now, we have additional information that suggests smoking cigarettes may also cause brain damage. The recent data suggests that smoking cigarettes actually lowers smoker’s intelligence.
I came across a study in Scotland that was undertaken by Dr. Lawrence Whalley with combined support from University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh. Dr. Whalley retested 465 participants who completed a mental health survey in 1947, when they were eleven years old. The participants were re-evaluated between 2000 and 2002, when they were approximately 64 years old.
The data indicated that smokers performed worse on five tests that measured their thinking abilities when they were compared either to people who stopped smoking or to those who never smoked cigarettes. When other variables were controlled for, such as education levels, occupational levels and alcohol use smoking still appeared to have a negative effect, but on a lower level.
The author of the study suggested smoking might affect the oxidation process of the brain neurons. Oxidation is the process in which cells obtain energy from oxygen. The oxygen is needed by all cells for proper function. The brain requires a considerable amount of oxygen to keep the cells functioning and healthy. The research seems to suggest that the elements in cigarette tobacco clog the lungs and prevent enough oxygen from entering the system. If it is true that cigarettes cause less oxygen to reach the brain, it could cause the premature death of necessary brain cells, lowering the smoker’s ability to think.
Clearly, if the data is accurate, it presents another reason to stop smoking cigarettes- it kills brain cells and makes the smoker less intelligent
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I am so sorry to write my question here, not a comment for your article.
I am a teacher in psychology from China.
Now I have a question that What is the accurate English word for your profession."Psychiatrist","Psychotherapist" or
"mental doctor"? I can't find the right English word responding to "mental doctor" in Chinese. Another question is what is its abbreviation for "mental doctor"?
Thank you!
dose smoking worsen peoples ability to solve problems. I gave up smoking reciently and I think I find solving problems abit easier or am able to concentrate more on it. usualy if I came across a problems when working say I would smoke a ciggeret. would somking a ciggeret take your mind off the problem and thus decrease your abilty to solve the problem at hand. maybe people that dont somke might have better problem solving abilities because they are better able to concentrate on problems over time and exercise there brain more eficiently.
I am sorry to both individuals who left a comment. I did not check my posts for a long time. To the Chinese psychology professor- I am a psychologist as well.
To the individual who found cigarette smoking affects thinking- you are right. The more smoke in your system the less oxygen in your brain. This affects your thinking in a negative way. Nicotine also increase your dopamine levels which calmas you down. So, you are calmer but less productive.
What is the correlation between lack of oxygen to the brain from smoking and chronic severe depression? I think I see a link between the two, and I am beginning to realize why I can't stop the lethargy. Anti-depressants and nicotine both affect dopamine. Interesting.
This test is highly inaccurate. How do you know these people you tested dint drink lots of alcohol, or do drugs... as i said highly in accurate
COuldnt it just be that the people with lower intelligence levels decided to smoke? I know plenty of doctors, lawyers, and other very intelligent who smoke and they dont seem to be inhitbited by it, mentally anyway. Im not denying that its bad for you im just saying it prolly doesnt hurt your brain function
other has smoked for about 40 yrs and now has C>O>P>D. Now her legs have a tremble shake to them when she stands or walks. Iam trying to tell her if she stops smoking that maybe her lags will stop shaking and her copd wont get worst. What do you think? Its hard to convence her to quit.
this is sooooooo sad that people get basically dumber taking drugs. it is such an addiction that they can't stop.
I seriously doubt cigarettes cause a drop in Intelligence.
The only pitfall I see for a smoker is these anti-smoking laws which doesn't allow people to smoke and perform at the same time. The side effects kick in and obviously performance starts to diminish.
Smoking not only keeps you calm, but it sharpens you up and gives you an edge.
Some of the smartest people my age are smokers, me included have high IQs. The only smokers in our group who didn't get into University had learning difficulties from birth so they did diplomas instead.
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Its really an important and essential topic. Thanks for sharing such a great information here. Smoking causes lot of health problems and diseases. This post really nice and useful.
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m 18 years old and smoking for the last 10 - 11 months ... my brain feels slower ... i cant think as fast .. nad i have memory problems ... this sounds stupid but is it because of smoking
m 18 years old and smoking for the last 10 - 11 months ... my brain feels slower ... i cant think as fast .. nad i have memory problems ... this sounds stupid but is it because of smoking .... i cant think or talk as fast as i could before ... my iq was 144 ... now m kinda freaked out
This study is highly inaccurate. My friends and I smoke quite frequently, and we are still just as intelligent as we were before we started. Also, to those who were asking if smoking affects your problem-solving ability: It is actually easier for us to solve problems right after we smoke because smoking clears our minds of everything else.
I think people who smoke are very slefish.they smoke everywhere and blow their disgusting habbit into people faces to breathe it in...my guy tried stopping,but he's getting into it again.he claims at first,'i am only smoking to relieve stress.' And then changes it into.' I smoke because I want to smoke.I like to smoke.I always have...I only stopeed because of u.' How can we come up with a solution that will appease both of us?to make both of us happy?a solution of some sort?I'm not going to marry a smoker...that's final.I'm not going to put my kids or myslef into danger cuz of the effects of this crap.
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I smoked earlier today. I felt strange afterwards. All of a sudden, I thought "Is this going to make me stupid?" I am very smart. Carbon monoxide levels rise in a smoker's blood. If the CO tester reads "0" in non smokers, or maybe "1", heavy smokers sometimes read "47." I took a CO test and it read "6". A woman told me nicotine is the main poison in cigarettes, and is more poisonous than any other ingredient in cigarettes. Maybe just as poisonous as all the ingredients combined. I don't know how to compare these things, but the feeling the smoke gave me made me think that I was harming my brain. Drugs that cause rapid hormone release and production can cause brain damage. People who have quit heroin often continue to smoke. I will never get lung cancer and will live a long life. If I continue to smoke, I will die before I am 100 years old and will have average intelligence. That's what common sense tells me. I want to be above average until the average catches up with me. I can't hurt my brain anymore. Brain damage is just as sad as death to me. I've quit before, and I'll quit again. Quit means I don't smoke for 6 months, then I can say I quit.
i feel i have became more dumber after i started smoking ...when i was in my +2 i used to study very well and i was very good at remembering things and thinking broad and very innovative however it's been more than a year since i have started smoking ..more importantly i have gotten in a most prestigious college of my country (IIT) which was entirely due to my brains ..after coming here i started this smoking and now i feel my mind is not that open i cant think more and most of all i cant sustain my memory..i just want to ask will my previous IQ or memory capacity come back if i quit smoking?
i feel i have became more dumber after i started smoking ...when i was in my +2 i used to study very well and i was very good at remembering things and thinking broad and very innovative however it's been more than a year since i have started smoking ..more importantly i have gotten in a most prestigious college of my country (IIT) which was entirely due to my brains ..after coming here i started this smoking and now i feel my mind is not that open i cant think more and most of all i cant sustain my memory..i just want to ask will my previous IQ or memory capacity come back if i quit smoking?
Hi Doc,
what happen to someker if they drink plain water right after smoking?
Hi doc,
WHat happen to the smokers who drink plain water right after they smoke?
Folks,
The data is clear that putting anything into your lungs affects oxygen levels in the blood which then affects the delicate blood vessels in the brain. Nicotine also cause blood vessels to lose elasticity over time. Long term use of any substance can cause damage to your body. Damage to the body affects the brain and vice versa.
Hello, I was wondering if you have any data on how much you would need to smoke before experiencing any significant cognitive deficits, if cigars would affect someone the same way cigarettes would (cigar smoke isn't usually inhaled into the lungs, but instead, is swirled around in the mouth), and what measures would one be able to take to reverse such damage, if there are any measures. I ask because, although I am not a smoker, I smoked briefly for the ten day period I was in Paris, and earlier today had half a cigar. I have also smoked shisha tobacco in the past more frequently than either of the two aforementioned times. Thanks for any information.
Max,
Cognitive impairments would be more likely after prolonged smoking. There are some short term changes in blood flow but they may not be permanent. The bottom line is smoking for a long time is damaging to circulation plasticity of arteries and overall health.
Dr. Gurr
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It is well known that smoking is dangerous in many different ways. Smoking over a period of time leads to many different health problems. Smoking is particularly damaging to the heart and lungs. Smoking can lead to a number of lung diseases or disorders including COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder), lung cancer, Emphysema, and shortness of breath. But exactly how can smoking destroy your lungs.
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Understood that smoking cuts down oxigen flow to the brain cell and make them inactive. But does smoking activates negative thoughts?
Iam smoking for about 10 yrs . One thing i found out myself is that when i took two puffs of my first cig of the day, i get disturbed that my mind start serching for my day to day problems and tension.
Even if i dont hv any tensions i feels bad and think i have a problem. THIS IS ONLY WITH THE FIRST CIG OF THE DAY. Why is it like this?
Sharath,
I would not worry too much about that. Nicotine works very quickly. It satisfies 75% of your Nicotine receptors after three puffs. You may be feeling the rush of Nicotine and a slight increase of Dopamone.
I'm a bit worried as to how some people may just suck this up. I have a criticism, did the investigators of such tests leave any room for matters such as age or lack of brain stimulation. As a youngster your are constantly learning vast amounts from books, other kids, adults, the list is endless. Since correlation does not prove causation I think it is irresponsible to come to such conclusions without any solid bio mechanical evidence from long term studies of nicotine and brain structure/health.
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Thank you so much for such a great blog.
Michael Todd
Looking at hundreds of graphs and reports on correlation of IQ and smoking, I have concluded that researchers neglected to tell that results were manipulated to one or the other side out of bias. Most of result show that you are most likely to be a non-smoker if you are of average intelligence. However smokers can be classified in the far lower and far upper regions of the IQ evaluation spectrum. So from a biased point of view: Smoking is lead from ignorance or indifference. As the less intelligent may be ignorant of health risks while the more intelligent tends to be indifferent about his own health. A person of average intelligence (between IQ of 90 and 115) however is more likely to care about his own health and excel physically.
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Smoking causes many and effects and this is also one of the bad effects that smoking causes it makes IQ weak and and the thinking power of a person is also being destroyed by it.
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I’m 38 now and I’ve smoked every day since, minus maybe a day here or there when I had bronchitis (go figure). I finally had the courage to quit, but patches and gum didn’t do much for me. It was only when I discovered this harmless cig alternative, I new I must try this because the handling of a cigarette was a big part of my smoking addiction. quit smoking today
The conclusion is grossly pre-mature. Short-term benefits of nicotine on the brain are well known: https://www.sott.net/article/269265-Brain-Researchers-Smoking-increases-intelligence
though there is much more supporting evidence. Also this was correlative not causative what if dumber people are more inclined to smoke (maybe it's a dumb thing to do or maybe they derive the greatest benefits from it). To what extent is the change in intelligence a function of the participants VO2 Max (how much oxygen they can store in their lungs). Much to be explored here.
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