Smoking & Skin Aging
How does smoking adversely affect skin Health & Aging?
There are internal factors (such as genetics) and external factors (e.g. smoking – pollution – tension) that affects skin health.
Smoking has been shown to have a detrimental effect on the blood circulation, tissue oxygenation and results in increased cellular oxidation. It may also lead to cracking of the collagen and elastic fibers in the skin. The contraction of the mouth muscles that accompanies smoking may to increase wrinkles around the mouth (smokers lines).
Smoking and skin Health: Evidence from identical twins
According to a recent study by Dr. Skinner and colleagues from the university of Bristol, UK, published in the Royal Society Open Science Journal, the twin that smoked looked significantly older than the twin that didn’t smoke (!).
Comparing skin aging in identical twins where one smokes and the other doesn’t smoke provides the strongest evidence that smoking leads to premature skin aging. The photos published by the Bristol group speak for themselves.
Skinner el al, Smoking status and attractiveness among exemplar and prototypical identical twins discordant for smoking, R Soc Open Sci. 2017 Dec; 4(12): 161076.
