Researchers claim that smoking is detrimental to memory .Prolonged
heavy nicotine use has a negative effect on day-to-day memory,
according to research. Researchers from five universities asked smokers
and non-smokers to rate their long-term memory, for example
remembering to send birthday cards. They found that smoking
significantly impaired memory, with heavy smokers reporting the most
errors. The survey was carried out by teams from Newcastle, Wales,
North Umbria, Westminster and Teesside universities. The survey
involved more than 700 people. Researcher Dr Tom Heffernan, of the
human cognitive neuroscience unit at North Umbria University, also
tested everyday memory including remembering where people had put
things. The teams also took into consideration how much people smoked
- a heavy smoker was classed as having more than 15 cigarettes a week
and alight smoker between one and four cigarettes a week. Dr Heffernan
said: "The result of the study revealed that smokers reported more errors
in their long-term memory than non-smokers with an additional
difference between non-smokers and heavy smokers". There was also a
significant detrimental effect of cigarette use on everyday memory
function. For example a typical heavy smoker reported 22% more
memory-related problems than a non smoker and around 12% more
problems than those who smoked only relatively a small number of
cigarettes It is concluded that chronic, heavy smoking is associated with
impairments in everyday memory, although the precise nature of the
deficits are as yet unknown.
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