Smoking 'increases vascular dementia risk'

Smoking could be a significant risk factor for vascular dementia, according to a leading care services body.

Recent studies published in the Archives of Internal Medicine indicate that as smoking heavily in middle age could increase the risk of developing a form of dementia.

Reacting to the claims, Penny Hibberd, director of the Dementia Services Development Centre South East, said that the most likely type would be vascular dementia, as it is known that smoking has a detrimental effect on circulation.

However, Ms Hibberd admits that definitive reasons why people are developing dementia have still not been found.

She added: "We are not quite sure why people are developing Alzheimer's disease. More money into research would be helpful.

"There is not much spent on research into dementia [compared to other] diseases such as cancer."

Ms Hibberd concluded by claiming that the number of people living with dementia is set to rise as the population ages.

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