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" People who smoke are more likely to develop Alzheimer&amp;#039;s disease or dementia, a new study has revealed. Researchers in the Netherlands followed nearly 7,000 over 55-year-olds for an average of seven years and discovered that people who were smokers at the time of the study were 50 per cent more likely to develop dementia than those who had never smoked or had given up smoking in the past. The study also revealed that smokers who do not have the apolipoprotein E4 gene, which increases the risk of Alzheimer&amp;#039;s disease, are nearly 70 per cent more likely to develop Alzheimer&amp;#039;s than non-smokers or ex-smokers. The researchers have published their findings in the journal Neurology, in which they suggest a number of different mechanisms by which smoking could affect dementia risk. &amp;#039;Smoking increases the risk of cerebrovascular disease, which is also ties to dementia,&amp;#039; said Dr Monique Breteler, a researcher at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam. &amp;#039;Another mechanism could be through oxidative stress, which can damage cells in the blood vessels and lead to hardening of the arteries,&amp;#039; she continued. &amp;#039;Smokers experience greater oxidative stress than non-smokers, and increased oxidative stress is also seen in Alzheimer&amp;#039;s disease.&amp;#039; \u00A9 Adfero Ltd "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/news/a15688/smoking-linked-to-alzheimers-disease/>