Can Smoking Cause Brain Damage?

Summary: New research suggests a direct link between smoking and brain damage. Scientists have found that a compound in tobacco provokes white blood cells in the central nervous system to attack healthy cells, leading to severe neurological damage.

Does smoking cause permanent brain damage?

the Psychiatry Advisor take: Smoking is linked to accelerating age-related thinning of the the brain's outer layer, the cortex, but this damage may be reversible after quitting, according to a study published in Molecular Psychiatry. However, the recovery may not be full and the process can take up to 25 years.

Does smoking damage your brain?

Loss of brain volume

Researchers found that smoking negatively affected the structural integrity of subcortical brain regions. They also found that smokers, compared to nonsmokers, had greater amounts of age-related brain volume loss in several areas of the brain.