How does tobacco affect people's intelligence?

In recent years, medicine has learned a lot about tobacco: it provokes cardiovascular diseases and ailments of the respiratory system, causes several types of cancer, slows down the development of children of smoking parents, impairs the sense of smell and taste... Israeli scientists have found that it also has a negative effect to the level of intelligence.

Employees of the Sheba Medical Center (Tel Aviv) examined 20 thousand young men aged 18 to 21 years and found that those who smoke up to a pack of cigarettes a day have a lower IQ than non-smokers. And the more cigarettes a young man smokes, the worse his mental abilities. If non-smokers had an average IQ of 101, then for a typical smoker it dropped to 94, and for those who smoked more than a pack a day, it did not exceed 90.

Important evidence comes from twin studies, which are often used in such comparative projects. Their IQ test results clearly differed depending on whether they smoked or not. The non-smoking brothers performed significantly better than the smoking brothers. And if in all other cases it could be assumed that the relationship between smoking and IQ is inverse (that is, less developed people are more likely to choose smoking than more intellectually developed people), then in the case of twins this argument does not work. As a rule, their natural mental abilities are the same.

The reason for the sharp deterioration in the intelligence of smokers is most likely that their brain does not receive enough oxygen. It consumes the lion's share of oxygen entering the body - up to 25%, especially during moments of intense mental work. Although its mass is only 2.5% of the total mass of the human body. And tobacco smoke sharply reduces the volume of inhaled oxygen. In addition, 4,000 chemical compounds enter the brain, 30 of which are especially toxic. Ammonia, acetone, benzene, methanol, pesticides, polonium, hydrogen sulfide, hydrocyanic acid, carbon dioxide, formaldehyde, benzopyrene, dibenzpyrene - this is not a complete list.

After cigarette smoke enters the lungs, nicotine reaches the brain within 7 seconds. At first, it can slightly stimulate his work, but then the opposite effect occurs - a decline in mental and physical activity. 1-2 packs of cigarettes contain a lethal dose of nicotine. The only thing that saves the smoker is that this dose is not introduced into the body immediately, but in parts.

According to Finnish scientists, smokers who consume large doses of vitamins E and C increase their likelihood of developing tuberculosis by 72%. At the moment, experts are talking about men. According to the results of an eight-year study in which scientists observed smoking men aged 50-69 years, it was found that vitamin E combined with vitamin C in the diet does not bring a positive result.

Thus, tobacco has an extremely negative effect on human intelligence. Smoking reduces IQ, disrupts the flow of oxygen to the brain, and introduces toxic substances into it. Even taking vitamins does not save smokers from an increased risk of disease. Therefore, it is better to give up this bad habit to maintain your health and mental abilities.