Longtime Smokers May Find Protection From Parkinson's (HealthDay)

WEDNESDAY, March 10 (HealthDay News) -- In an effort to

understand the relationship between tobacco smoke and Parkinson's disease,

researchers have found that smoking for many years may reduce risk for the

disease but smoking a large number of cigarettes a day does not seem to

reduce risk.

Previous research had suggested that smokers have a lower risk of

developing Parkinson's disease.

The finding, however, comes with a caveat.

"Given the many adverse consequences of smoking, no one would suggest

smoking in order to prevent Parkinson's disease," study author Dr. Honglei

Chen, of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences,

said in a news release from the American Academy of Neurology.

Rather, he said, the results "could guide the development of studies on

various tobacco components with animal models to help understand the

relationship between smoking and Parkinson's disease."

"Research to reveal the underlying chemicals and mechanisms is

warranted," Chen said. "Such studies may lead to a better understanding of

the causes of Parkinson's disease."

The study included 305,468 people, 50 to 71 years old, who provided

information about their diet and lifestyle when they were enrolled and

again 10 years later. In that span, 1,662 (about 0.5 percent) of the

participants developed Parkinson's disease.

Compared with people who'd never smoked, current smokers were 44

percent less likely to have developed Parkinson's, and former smokers were

22 percent less likely. Further analysis revealed that the length of time

people smoked affected their risk. Those who'd smoked for 40 years or more

were 46 percent less likely to develop Parkinson's than those who'd never

smoked, and the risk was 35 percent less for after 30 to 39 years of

smoking and 8 percent less for those who'd smoked one to nine years.

The number of cigarettes a person smoked a day, however, did not affect

the risk for developing Parkinson's disease, according to the study.

The study was published online March 10 in Neurology.

More information

We Move has more about Parkinson's disease.

Item Resource