Smoking can make you look older Tina Juan Inquirer
November 14, 2006
UNLESS you have extraordinary genes and a super-immune system, smoking will eventually have a negative impact on your health.
But it’s not just the inside of you that will be affected by every stick you light. The outside of your body will also, sooner or later, reveal the harmful effects of smoking.
The skin of smokers can look prematurely older than that of non-smokers. This is not just anti-smoking propaganda but scientific observation based on several research studies.
For example, a 2002 South Korean study found that smokers aged 20-69 had more facial wrinkles than non-smokers and ex-smokers in the same age group.
A 1991 study found that heavy smokers (one to two packs a day) had five times more premature wrinkling than non-smokers. Smokers who sunned themselves one hour a day for many years had 12 times more wrinkled skin.
Smoker’s face
Dr. Douglas Model, who observed that people who smoked for more that 10 years shared common facial characteristics, coined in 1985 the term “smoker’s face.” The picture is not a pretty one (Source: Stop Smoking Today).
Prominent lines and wrinkles are usually noticeable from the corners of the eyes (“crow’s feet”), even extending to the cheek. The cheeks themselves may appear sunken.
Other wrinkle lines become etched perpendicular to the lips, with shallow lines forming on the cheeks and lower jaw.
Some male smokers may also develop a distinctive feature referred to as “cobblestone wrinkles” that run down the back of the neck. The underlying bone structure of the face becomes more visible under drawn, taut skin that has lost its elasticity.
The skin may take on a dry, tough and leathery appearance. A mottled, slightly reddened, orange and purple complexion may occur. The smoker’s complexion may develop a gray, unnatural pallor because it is more atrophied than a non-smoker’s skin.
In your 20s or 30s, even when your skin still looks good compared to your non-smoking friends, you are not quite in the clear. Research found that the difference in the wrinkling of the skin of smokers and non-smokers became most apparent after the age of 40.
Skin damage
Smoking is believed to damage the skin in several ways. The heat of the tobacco smoke that surrounds a smoker’s face has a dehydrating effect. Long-term facial movements like squinting and puckering of the mouth may form premature wrinkles.
Anything that restricts circulation will affect the health of your skin. Nicotine constricts blood vessels by reducing their inner diameter so blood flow is restricted. Oxygen and other nutrients cannot be delivered as fast as they should be.
The carbon monoxide produced by smoking binds to 12 percent of hemoglobin, meaning there is 12 percent less oxygen that can be carried in the blood.
Smoking destroys Vitamins A and C, antioxidants that protect the skin against damage from pollution and free radicals that can lead to illness. In women, smoking interferes with estrogen production, leaving skin drier than it should be.
Research also indicates that smoking damages collagen and elastin, two substances that give your skin firmness and elasticity. Interestingly, another study found that emphysema was more severe in smokers with wrinkles. The connection is still not clear though it may be because smoking hastens the breakdown of elastin, a protein responsible for the elasticity of the skin as well as lung cells.
Hair and teeth
Adding insult to injury, smoking may also affect your crowning glory. There is some evidence that nicotine and cotinine can alter the DNA of hair follicle cells. Also, small blood vessels supplying hair follicles are constricted.
The American Academy of Dentistry reports that male smokers can lose 2.9 teeth for every 10 years of smoking while female smokers can lose 1.5 teeth. This is probably due to plaque buildup, which leads to periodontal or gum disease. Another reason could be poor circulation in the gums and facial bones.
Other unpleasant side effects of smoking are yellowish, stained teeth; darkened gums and breath like an ashtray.
Thicker waistline
Male and female smokers usually have a higher waist-to-hip ratio than non-smokers even if they are of the same age and weight and even if they have normal body fat percentages. One possible explanation for this is that smoking increases cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone that seems to direct fat to be stored in the abdominal area.
Vanity can be a powerful motivator to quit smoking and it can literally save your face. I know someone who quit in her mid-30s. Now in her early 50s, she has much younger-looking skin than her friends and sisters who continue puffing away.
Note: YogaKids, the only yoga program for children endorsed by doctors Deepak Chopra and Andrew Weil, will start on Nov. 18 at Yoga Manila, Alabang branch. Call 0917522-YOGA.
Visit www.tinajuanfitness.info
Previous columns: Preventing post-smoking weight gain – 11/07/06 Quitting smoking doesn’t have to mean weight gain – 10/31/06 More breathing techniques – 10/24/06 Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale – 10/17/06 Breathing exercises to relieve stress – 10/10/06 More mind-body techniques for everyday life – 10/03/06
