Source: News Interactive Network/News Limited/News.com (au)
Date: 2010-02-10

THE tobacco industry worked for two decades to skew research into
smoking and Alzheimer\'s disease, to promote the wrong belief it
could prevent the degenerative condition, a review of research
has found.

US-based scientists have reviewed more than 40 research papers
published since 1984, to highlight those with industry links
which also suggested smoking could be good for the brain.

A quarter of the papers were found to have industry influence -
either through direct funding or using researchers who were also
consultants to the industry or who had other ties.

In many cases these relationships were not disclosed, according
to the analysis, which found industry-linked papers dotted
through the scientific literature up to 2003.

Professor Jurgen Gotz, from the University of Sydney\'s Brain &
Mind Research Institute, welcomed the review . . .