I am a smoking Freeper. My mom is presently in a fetal position suffering from Alzheimer's, and has a shunt to drain fluid from her brain. She never smoked.
I read that smoking seems to reduce the risk of Alzheimer', which is in part why I have not tried harder to quit.
Which way would be better to go? Emphysema or Alzheimer's? We think we can control our destiny by choices made, but I am not sure that we have all that much influence, really.
This strikes me as likely. Lowers the odds of living to be all that old.
I quit at the age of 13 in 1963 and was running 5 mile workouts this year until the winter got rough.
The data on the ill effects of smoking are well and long established and documented. Probably the only reason Altzheimers is "staved off" is that the respiratory illnesses kill you off first. If there is a link between smoking and holding back Altzheimer's this is the first I have ever heard of it -- it more than likely a theory otherwise they would be doing nicotine therapy or somesuch.
I realize that quitting smoking is a deeply personal and difficult decision that can never be forced on you (my wife didn't realize she was the biggest detriment to my quitting by bringing it up).
But IMHO you should be honest about why you don't quit -- you like it too much.
Not a good choice either way. The affects of smoking on the quality of life are significant and dying by lung cancer or other lung disease is a bad way to go. It would seem to me that anyone is better off without smoking. As far as quiting, I know that few things are harder but I would say worth it.
I have read that smoking cures cancer, or was it that cancer cures smoking?
My Mama smoked for over 40 years, finally quitting in 1978. She developed Alzheimer's and no one knows why, but I can guarantee you she died more peacefully 6 years after that diagnosis from congestive heart failure than she would have done strangling to death from the results of emphysema!
Let me ask you something, does the shunt help? They say that water on the brain is misdiagnosed as Alzheimers. They wanted to perform this on my Mother, but I said no because of her age. Have you seen a big difference in your mother?