Winter Maladies: Natural Approaches
June Russell's Health Facts
Smoking - Wrinkles/Skin
Wrinkles
By age 40-50, the facial wrinkles of smokers are similar to those of nonsmokers 20 years older. Part of this effect can be the nutritional depletions from smoking. (in the book “Staying Healthy with Nutrition,” by Elson Haas, M.D., Health World Online, July 2001 & Hint #633 “Smoking, cancer, and wrinkles, Betty Kamen’s Nutritional Hints) The wrinkle effects are reversible if women quit earlier enough, too late after decades of smoking.
What is a "smoker’s face?" Unique to smokers, the condition is a combination of wrinkles, gaunt features, and an oddly colored complexion. One study showed excessive wrinkling even among 40- and 50-year-olds who only smoked during their teens and twenties. Smokers who quit regain their pink cheeks but never lose their wrinkles. (from the book, “Women’s Health Confidential: 101 of your most Intimate Health Questions Answered,” 2000)
Smoking causes wrinkles, and a report in the Lancet suggests that smoking switches on a gene involved in destroying collagen, the structural protein which gives skin its elasticity. Smoking has also been found to trigger oxygen damage to the cells and to mess up the blood flow to the skin. (“New research offers explanation of why smokers look older,” (AP) HealthCentral.com - March 2001)
Smoking results in wrinkles and weaker skin. (ASH newsletter, Jan./Feb. 1997)
Skin
Smokers develop premature wrinkling and sagging of the skin similar to those of aging, and they are prone to premature thinning and graying of the hair. Men who smoke are twice as likely to become bald as are men who do not smoke - and premature graying is 3 to 6 times more common in smokers. (British Medical Journal, 1996, in Health Gazette newsletter, Feb. 1997)
Don't smoke. Smoking robs the skin of collagen which keeps the skin elastic. That flawless skin shown on cigarette ad models directly contradicts the reality. (PRNewswire, Yahoo! March 2000)
Just 10 minutes of cigarette smoking decreases the body’s and skin’s oxygen supply for almost an hour. Nicotine narrows blood vessels and prevents blood from circulating to the capillaries (tiny blood vessels) in the upper layer of the skin. (The American Academy of Dermatology (www.aad.org), Energy Times, Jan. 1999)
Smoking with its ill effects on the circulatory system and wound healing, has long been known to interfere with a patients’ recovery from an array of surgical procedures. (“Smokers advised to quit before plastic surgery,” Reuters Health, HealthCentral.com - September 2001)
Smokers get more wrinkles, deeper wrinkles, all over their faces because
nicotine constricts the tiny capillaries that nourish the skin. Smoking interferes with
the healing process, it takes a longer time to heal and there is more scarring.
(Prevention magazine, Feb. 1985)