We’ve all heard that smoking can take a toll on your skin, but now you can see for yourself just how much cigarettes can speed up the aging process.
Researches found pairs of identical twins with different smoking habits and compared their portrait photographs.
Each pair comprised of either a smoker, a non-smoker or two smokers – one of whom has been smoking for at least five years longer than their sibling. A professional photographer took close-up photos of each twin’s face and each set of siblings were also asked to complete questionnaires regarding their medical and lifestyle habits.
Lead researcher Dr. Bahman Guyuron from Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland and his colleagues then showed those pictures to plastic surgeons with no knowledge of the twins’ smoking histories.
The surgeons analyzed the twins’ facial features, including grading of wrinkles and age-related facial features. They wanted to identify the specific components of facial aging affected by smoking, and according to Huffington Post, this is what they concluded:
Smokers looked older – with more sagging of the upper eyelids; bags of the lower eyelids and under the eyes; twins who smoked also had higher scores for facial wrinkles (including more pronounced nasolabial folds (lines between the nose and mouth), wrinkling of the upper and lower lips and sagging jowls).
Dermatologist Dr. Elizabeth Tanzi says that toxins from smoking speed up the breakdown of collagen – protein fibers that support the skin and help it stick together. Smoking also reduces the amount of oxygen going to the skin.
“Smoking reduces the collagen formation, results in collagen degradation and reduces the skin circulation,” Guyuron said. “Additionally, nicotine reduces the skin thickness. All of these reduce skin elasticity and (cause) premature aging.”
The study was published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Check out the other pictures here. Who do you think is a smoker, and who isn’t?
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