This interesting study, conducted on a population of almost 8000 patients with multiple sclerosis who are part of the retrospective and prospective United Kingdom multiple sclerosis register, investigated the potential benefits of smoking cessation in slowing down clinical progression in patients with this disease. The results of this study indicated that smoking is associated with a worsening of motor function, that smokers experience an accelerated rate of worsening compared to non-smokers and that, once accrued, the damage does not resolve when smoking is stopped. However, this study clearly highlighted that, following smoking cessation, the rate of motor deterioration slowed down, matching the rate of motor decline of patients who have never smoked.
Rodgers J, Friede T, Vonberg FW, et al. The impact of smoking cessation on multiple sclerosis disease progression. Brain. 2021 Oct 8. Online ahead of print. doi: 10.1093/brain/awab385.