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Ever wondered just how much damage smoking is doing, not only to your health, but also your skin?
The most serious damage to skin is caused by:
#1 Restricted blood flow through the capilliaries (tiny veins near the skins surface) preventing oxygen and nutrients getting to the skin.
#2 Increased production of an enzyme which breaks down the supply of collagen to the skin’s structure. Collagen supply is vital to the skin’s elasticity. It decreases with age, but smoking cigarettes accelerates this process.
#3 Smoking reduces the body’s store of vitamin A, which provides protection from skin damage.
#4 Smoking gets in the way of absorption of vitamin C - a vital antioxidant for skin protection and health.
#5 Continual puckering from drawing on a cigarette, and squinting in reaction to the cigarette smoke, create deeply wrinkled skin around the eyes and mouth - classic signs of ’smoker’s face.’
Amanda Sandford, Action on Smoking Health, states:
“For smokers, middle-age starts in the their early 30’s as the tell-tale wrinkles around the mouth and eyes begin to appear. Young female smokers are likely to be wasting their money on anti-aging face creams if they continue to smoke.”
Smokers Quiz
Can you guess whether the person in the photo above is a smoker or not. Then click here for the answer. There are 9 photos in total.
Were you able to pick out all of the smokers?
The quiz came from Hot Medical News. Check out this site for a variety of entertaining, and sometimes offbeat, medical articles!
You may also want to take a look at my previous article, Giving up Smoking and Weight Gain.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Tom 07.24.08 at 1:25 pm
The number of adverse effects that smoking has on the human body are amazing. Fortunately, nobody in my immediately family smokes. I’ve heard of many horror stories about people’s battles with diseases as a result of smoking so I am way too scared to start.
Matt P 07.25.08 at 11:52 am
I never got into smoking and I’m glad I didn’t after reading that post. It’s pretty obvious if you want to be healthy and want to be fit you should inhale clouds of toxins.
Melanie 07.31.08 at 12:57 am
Hi Tom,
You are indeed fortunate that none of your immediate family smokes. That is a blessing. Thankfully a couple of my relative who used to smoke have given up.
Hi Matt,
Yet some people still think THEY won’t get cancer (or other disease) if they smoke - doesn’t add up, does it??