The association between cigarette smoking and dementia with Lewy bodies

Cigarette smoking is associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease (PD). As dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and PD share core neuropathologic features, we set out to examine the relationship between smoking and DLB.

Diagnosis at baseline visit and smoking history of participants ≥50 years old in the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) cohort were evaluated in this cross-sectional study. Odds of diagnosis of cognitive impairment due to DLB, PD, vascular dementia (VD), or Alzheimer's disease (AD) compared to normal cognition based on smoking status and duration were determined using logistic regression.

37,478 participants were included (mean age 72 years (SD 9), 57 % female). The odds of DLB were reduced in all smoking status groups compared to never smokers (OR (95 % CI)): ever smokers 0.850 (0.745-0.971), former smokers 0.871 (0.761-0.997), current smokers 0.640 (0.419-0.947)) and in all smoking duration groups. As expected, the odds of PD were reduced in all smoking groups and fell with longer smoking duration. The odds of VD were increased in the current smoking group and rose with greater smoking duration. The odds of AD were unchanged in current smokers, decreased in ever and former smokers, and increased with longer cumulative smoking duration.

Cigarette smoking is associated with lower odds of diagnosis of DLB at baseline visit in the NACC cohort. In the context of the well-established reduced risk of PD among smokers, this preliminary evidence of a potential protective effect of smoking on DLB warrants further study.