Nicotine linked to Alzheimer’s risk

Smoking cigarettes could predispose people to dementia, not protect them as has been suggested in the past. This is the conclusion from laboratory experiments in which rats with brain plaques developed further symptoms of Alzheimer’s when given nicotine.

In Alzheimer’s disease, the brain becomes damaged with amyloid protein plaques and tangles of tau protein. Low doses of nicotine have been shown to lower the number of plaques in rats, but till now little was known about the effect on nicotine on protein tangles. 

To find out, a team in China injected amyloid plaques into the brains of healthy rats and gave some of the equivalent of a smoker’s daily dose of nicotine for two weeks, while others received nothing. 

All the rats showed early signs of tau tangles and had difficulty navigating a maze, but the rats that were on nicotine did worse than those that were not.

These results could have great implications for humans. Perhaps it’s worthwhile advising smokers when they seek smoking cessation advice that the nicotine contained in their cigarette puts them at a higher chance of getting Alzheimer’s late in life.

Pharmacists should also explain the other health risks associated with smoking, so as to make smokers give up their habit and deter potential smokers from picking up a cigarette.