Brain Aneurysm Found to be More Likely in Women Who Smoke Than Those Who Don’t

According to new research, women between the ages of 30 and 60 with a history of smoking have a four-fold increased risk for having an unruptured intracranial aneurysm (UIA), and a seven-fold increased risk if they have underlying chronic hypertension.

In order to identify this connection, the researchers analyzed the brain scans of 545 women between the ages of 30 and 60 at teaching and research hospitals in Canada and the United States from 2016 to 2018. These scans revealed that 152 of the 545 women had 185 unruptured brain aneurysms, meaning some women had more than one. Of these 152 abnormal brain scans, high blood pressure as well as a history of smoking or currently smoking applied to 46 percent and 57.5 percent respectively. Brain aneurysms specifically tended to be higher in smokers with a habit of around 20 a day and a history of 29 years on average, IFLScience.com reports. 

While these statistics are staggering, this study is purely observational, and “no direct causation can be drawn from the analysis of these brain scans and the findings cannot be generalized to all age groups,” but the researchers believe their findings indicate “consideration should be given to screening for [unruptured brain aneurysms] in women aged between 30 and 60 years who smoke cigarettes.”