Unbelievable Ways Smoking Cigarettes Damages the Brain

“Smoking increases the risk of developing schizophrenia by between 53% and 127% and of developing depression by 54% to 132%”

Findings from a study at the University of Bristol

Without a doubt, everyone knows how damaging smoking cigarettes is on physical health; lungs, heart, oral health, and more. However, it is not commonly discussed how smoking cigarettes damages the brain. Brain health, to me, encompasses mental health and emotional health too, as both involve the brain.

Surely, toxicity in the body impacts us on every level; physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Ultimately, these all connect and impact each other. Our physical body is the doorway and step #1 on the health & healing journey. If your body is not taken care of, it will impact your mental, emotional, and spiritual health. That cliché saying, “Treat your body like a temple” are wise words!

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As someone who has struggled more than half of my life with cigarette addiction, I am writing this as much for myself as I am for others. This addiction is absolutely brutal! If someone in your life is trying to quit, be compassionate with them, it is not easy! The tobacco industry does a fantastic job at making these as addictive as possible. Indeed, I have struggled tremendously with trying to quit over the years. Currently, I think the number of quit attempts is at about 100 haha! Although, perhaps I needed to go through this back and forth in order to really learn what I needed to.

Nevertheless, I find I can maintain not smoking until serious stress or emotional situations come up in my life, or when I’ve had a few drinks. In those situations, them damn cigarettes are a source of ‘comfort’. Like an old best friend coming to hug me. It may sound silly, but in my addict brain, this is what it feels like. I started this addiction at 14 years old, so these things have been in my life for decades. If only I knew how much smoking cigarettes damages the brain, and what I was truly doing to myself.

According to lung.org “There are approximately 600 ingredients in cigarettes. When burned, cigarettes create more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 69 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, and all are toxic in one way or another. Many of these chemicals are also found in consumer products, but these products have warning labels—such as rat poison packaging. While the public is warned about the danger of the poisons in these products, there is no such warning for the toxins in tobacco smoke.”

Subsequently, there are toxic chemicals found in numerous components of a cigarette that includes: cigarette paper, monogram inks, side-seam adhesives, filtration materials, filter papers, filter adhesives, flavor ingredients, and tobacco ingredients. Every component contributes to the toxic soup.

Cigarettes contain many known ingredients that harm the brain in various ways. Numerous heavy metals, neurotoxins, and radioactive elements are in these things, it’s shocking how they are legal!

In all honesty, the reason I am writing this is because of how cigarettes affect my mental health. I have done extensive observation on myself, especially in the last few years on this connection. Literally turning on and off mental illness in myself via smoking and quitting smoking. Usually, within a few weeks, after I quit cigarettes, I find enormous relief from symptoms. I assist this process with healthy lifestyle choices like eating cleaner and exercising. Overall, I’d say I achieve about a 90% reduction in anxiety symptoms and complete reduction in depression symptoms.

Further, what I find smoking cigarettes does to me is quite interesting. Basically, it shuts down my self-expression and communication. Spiritually speaking, this would be closing my throat chakra. Which leads to social anxiety, as I am unable to authentically be myself. Depression and anxiety are my biggest struggles when I was a chronic smoker. I haven’t been a full-time smoker for a long time now. When I do smoke, I briefly relapse due to immense stress, strong emotions (like grief) , or a few drinks (if there are smokers around me). Although, I ensure I am not too hard on myself over it. I pick myself up and work to do better next time. Self-compassion is critical for me, read more about self-compassion for mental health here.

What’s more, something my boyfriend and I notice in him too, is when he quits smoking, he speaks his mind way more than he would otherwise. Hmm. Smoking cigarettes damages the brain in fascinating ways.

With all of this in mind, quite frankly, sh*t in cigarettes it’s no wonder it links to a variety of psychiatric illnesses. Such as Alzheimer’s. For those who smoke or who have a history of smoking, there is greater atrophy in the brain regions normally affected by Alzheimer’s. Additionally, there is evidence of smoking thinning the brain’s cortex. Unfortunately, it is unclear how much of this damage is reversible.

Moreover, a 2016 German study found “chronic nicotine exposure through smoking may lead to atrophy of cholinergic input areas of the basal forebrain. This effect may account for an increased risk of AD (Alzheimer’s) dementia onset…” Chronic smoking is associated with decreased cognitive function, processing speed, and verbal memory in adults. There are certain brain structures -cerebellum, prefrontal cortex, thalamus, etc.- that freakin’ alter in size from smoking! This includes decreases in the volume of grey matter. Yikes!

Sadly, smokers are more likely to be diagnosed with mental health conditions, including anxiety, mood disorders and psychosis. A report by academics from the University of Bristol, published in June 2022, demonstrates some startling statistics! If you smoke, you have between a 53% and 127% increased risk of developing schizophrenia! What’s more, you have between a 54% and 132% increased risk for depression too! These statistics blew my mind! Smoking cigarettes damages the brain in sometimes severe manners.

One of the authors Marcus Munafò, Professor of Biological Psychology at the University of Bristol, states: “There is no longer any doubt that smoking is bad for mental health and this needs to be a priority in the forthcoming Tobacco Control Plan. Those working with people with mental health conditions need to understand and address the vicious cycle of bidirectional effects, whereby having symptoms of mental illness causes individuals to smoke more and to be more likely to become addicted. At the same time, smoking also increases the risk of subsequent mental illness and exacerbates mental health symptoms. Lower rates of smoking will improve overall levels of good mental health as well as physical health.” 

Also, those diagnosed with mental illness may have a harder time quitting since it becomes a coping mechanism for their symptoms. However, if you do quit you will experience an improvement in your mental health.

Now, with so many mental health issues resulting from cigarettes, let’s take a look at some of these gnarly ingredients that are causing brain health decline. Many of these are heavy metals with immense literature on how they affect our health and brains, here’s an in-depth look at heavy metals. As I mentioned earlier, there are even radioactive elements in smokes!

• Lead (Pb) – Tobacco leaves trap radioactive(Pb-210) and non-radioactive(Pb-206) lead on their surface and are thought to be the main source of lead in cigarettes. Small amounts of Pb-210 are retained in lungs, that release radiation as it decays to Polonium-210. Polonium-210 is a highly toxic, radioactive isotope. About 95% of the total lead burden is mostly stored in our bones as a result of its long half-life. The half-life of lead in our blood is 40-120 days. Whereas, the half-life of bone lead is 15-20 years!! Lead is a neurotoxicant affecting nearly every organ system. Exposure can lead to major depressive disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, brain and nervous system damage, lowers IQ, hearing and speech problems, and so much more.
• Arsenic (As)– This is simply a poison and is quite well-known to cause various cancers. Arsenic can accumulate in organs. It damages the central nervous system, depletes Thiamine(Vitamin B1)-thiamine is vital in the maintenance of brain function, causes oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, may cause anxiety and depression, lowers IQ, may contribute to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease(through destroying dopamine), disrupts communication between the important gut-brain axis, and much more!
• Cadmium (Cd)– Normally used to make batteries and in processes for nuclear fission. It accumulates in the body, increasing with age, mostly stores in the kidneys and liver. We don’t have effective elimination pathways for this heavy metal. Once in the lungs, between 10-50% of an inhaled dose is absorbed. In cigarettes, the particle size is small so it’s easy to absorb. Cadmium damages our central nervous system, decreases IQ, may contribute to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, disrupts neurotransmitter functions, ect.
• Chromium (Cr)– Is the element that makes steel ‘stainless’. This is not the essential trace mineral trivalent chromium(III), but rather the toxic hexavalent chromium(VI). A known carcinogen it also damages DNA, a developmental toxicant, generates free radicals which damage cells, depression, raises levels of inflammation, and may contribute to autism spectrum disorder.
• Nickel (Ni)– Largely used in, nick the steel industry. This carcinogen in a burning cigarette might form the volatile, gaseous compound, nickel tetracarbonyl. It damages the nervous system, produces free radicals leading to oxidative stress, may cause anxiety and depression, disrupts neurotransmitters, and impairs memory.
• Carbon Monoxide– This highly poisonous gas is used by people, in high amounts, to take their lives via car emissions. Enough said.
• Mercury (Hg)– Known to be very poisonous and also bioaccumulates in the body. Involved in the production of light bulbs, batteries and explosives. Not often thought to be in cigarettes *but surprise* it is! Mercury is lipophilic, which means it concentrates in fatty tissues, like the brain. Side effects include brain and nervous system damage, depression, anxiety, decline in cognitive function and Alzheimer’s, blindness, seizures, lower IQ, mad hatter’s disease, and so much more.

All things considered, what’s crazy to me is how cigarette manufacturers are not required by law to write a list of ingredients on their products. Maybe not so crazy when you factor in all the lobbying by cigarette companies, as money can buy you power. Still, it’s 2023, isn’t it way past due? Surely, if I had to look at an ingredient label every time I bought a pack of smokes, I sure as h*ll would have quit years ago. When you are a smoker, you really distance yourself from thinking about what’s in them. Out of sight, out of mind 100%! Certainly, there are many other factors as to why they have no ingredient labels and are even legal, but I’ll leave it at that for today.

To conclude, I seriously hope this helps someone to find their inner power to quit smoking! It’s one of the most challenging addictions to stop, but has a huge impact on your quality of life! No matter if you try quitting 10, 20, or 100 times like me haha, just keep going and one day it will stick! Keep in mind how much smoking cigarettes damages the brain, for me, this is powerful motivation!

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