Secondhand Smoke Linked to Depression, Dementia and Memory Loss

Do you often feel like there is a black cloud hanging over your head? It could be the secondhand smoke wafting your way from cigarette smokers that live or work with you.

Non-smokers exposed to cigarette smoke at home or work are more than twice as likely as those not exposed to suffer from severe depression, according to a report presented at the American Psychosomatic Society annual meeting in Chicago and written up in USA Today.

Secondhand smoke is already known to increase non-smokers’ risks of heart disease, lung cancer and other illnesses—and there is strong medical evidence that smokers are more prone to depression and anxiety than non-smokers—but this is the first U.S. study to link secondhand smoke to depression. (The Japanese did an earlier study on secondhand smoke and depression that reached similar conclusions.)

Another recent study, reported last month [February 2009] in the British Medical Journal, found that non-smokers over 50 who are exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke face a 44 percent increase in their risk of memory problems, dementia and other cognitive impairments.

All in all, breathing in cigarette smoke, whether directly or indirectly, just doesn’t seem like a prescription for good health. The best course is probably to do whatever you can to control your personal environment by limiting your exposure to secondhand smoke. Chances are you’ll live longer, feel better, and reduce your risk of depression.

_{Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images}

Also Read:

• The Basics of Secondhand Smoke and Its Effect on Human Health
• U.S. Surgeon General Reports Indisputable Dangers of Secondhand Smoke