Tobacco Can Damage Nerve Cells in Brain
June 24, 2009 by Peggy Rowland
Filed under Women's Health
Need yet another reason to quit smoking? How about your brain on tobacco . . .
NNK, found in all forms of tobacco, including the second-hand smoke, can lead to brain damage. The new research from the Indian National Brain Research Center (NBRC) found that the compound NNK in tobacco makes white blood cells in the central nervous system attack healthy cells, which may lead to neurological damage.
The researchers say that NNK doesn’t harm brain cells directly, but it may cause neuroinflamation, leading to disorders like Multiple Sclerosis. The study also showed that NNK causes an extreme response from the brain’s immune cells called microglia.
“Our findings prove that tobacco compound NNK can activate microglia significantly which subsequently harms the nerve cells,” said Dr Anirban Basu from the NBRC.
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