Smoking 'may worsen Alzheimer's disease'

US scientists have discovered a potential link between smoking cigarettes and Alzheimer's disease.

Research into the effect smoking has on the brain has been largely contradictory in recent years and evidence from the early 1990s even suggested cigarettes could help to protect against the condition.

However, scientists at the University of Texas Medical School have conducted a study analysing changes in the brains of mice that were subjected to cigarette smoke, having been bred to display symptoms of Alzheimer's. Their research appears in the latest edition of the Nature Communications journal.

When compared to a control group that were not, the mice exposed to the smoke showed several indications the disease had been aggravated. These include increases in the amounts of amyloid beta plaques and tau proteins present and more severe inflammation of the brain.

Professor Claudio Soto, who led the study, said: "Our findings suggest that cigarette smoking may increase Alzheimer's disease onset and exacerbate its features and thus, may constitute an important environmental risk factor for Alzheimer's disease."

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