Insult to injury

Remember this old joke?

"I have good news and bad news," the doctor says. "Which do you want first?"

"Give me the bad news."

"You have a terminal illness."

"What in the world could the good news be?"

"You also have Alzheimer's."

Yeah, I know, cruel. But real life also has a way of adding insult to injury:

In a recent press release, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) announced a study that's published in their Sept. 4 issue of "Neurology" showing that people who smoke are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease or dementia than nonsmokers or those who were former smokers.

The study, supported by Erasmus Medical Center and several governmental health organizations in the Netherlands, followed approximately 7,000 people age 55 and older for an average of seven years. During that time, 706 of the participants developed dementia. People who were smokers at the start and throughout the study were 50 percent more likely to develop dementia than people who had either never smoked or who had quit at some point prior to the start of the study. This follows the conclusions of a 2006 analysis of some 19 similar studies.

So, even if you can't quit, at least maybe you won't remember that you can't quit.