吸菸者會喪失三分之一日常記憶

People who smoke could lose around one third of their everyday memory, researchers say.

A study by a team at Northumbria University has shown that smokers lose more of their memory when compared to non-smokers.

And the research also found that those who kicked the habit saw their ability to recollect information restored to almost the same level as non-smokers.

The study involved more than seventy 18 to 25-year-olds and included a tour of the university’s campus.

Those who took part were asked to recall small details, such as music acts listed to play at the students’ union and tasks completed at various points - known as real world memory test.

Smokers performed badly, remembering just 59 percent of tasks.

But those who had given up smoking remembered 74 percent and those who had never smoked recalled 81 percent of tasks.

Dr Tom Heffernan, who leads Northumbria University’s Collaboration for Drug and Alcohol Research Group, said the findings would be useful in anti-smoking campaigns.

He said: 'Given that there are up to 10million smokers in the UK and as many 45million in the United States, it’s important to understand the effects smoking has on everyday cognitive function - of which prospective memory is an excellent example.

'This is the first time that a study has set out to examine whether giving up smoking has impact on memory.

'We already know that giving up smoking has huge health benefits for the body, but this study also shows how stopping smoking can have knock-on benefits for cognitive functions too.'

The research will now investigate the effects of passive smoking on memory, while Dr Heffernan and Dr Terence O’Neill will look into the effects of 'third-hand smoking' - toxins left on curtains and furniture.研究人員稱，吸菸者會喪失約三分之一的日常記憶。

諾森比亞大學的一個團隊的研究顯示，吸菸者和不吸菸者相比，會喪失更多記憶。

研究還發現，那些戒菸者發現自己回憶信息的能力恢復到了和不吸菸者相近的水平。

參與該研究的是70多名18到25歲的青年，他們在該大學校園中游覽了一番。

研究人員請那些參與者回憶一些細節，如學生會演出的音樂劇目和在不同時間和地點完成的任務，這就是所謂的“真實世界記憶測試”。

那些吸菸者表現很差，只記得59%的任務。

但那些戒菸者記得74%的任務，從未吸過煙的人記得81%的任務。

諾森比亞大學的毒品和酒精共同研究小組的領頭人湯姆•赫夫南博士說這些研究發現將有助於反吸菸活動的開展。

他說：“考慮到英國有1000萬吸菸者，美國有4500萬吸菸者，瞭解吸菸對於日常認知功能的影響是很重要的，在這方面記憶力就是個很好的例子。

“該研究首次檢測戒菸是否會對記憶產生影響。

“我們已經知道，戒菸對身體健康有極大的益處，但這項研究還顯示，戒菸對於認知功能也有間接的好處。”

現在該研究將開始調查吸二手菸對記憶的影響，而赫夫南博士和特倫斯•奧尼爾博士將研究“吸三手煙”——吸菸後殘留在窗簾和傢俱上的毒素對人體的影響。