Smoking destroys collagen and causes wrinkles

The smoking accelerates the skin aging and causes wrinkles both on the face and other parts of the body. This effect can become apparent after 10 years of smoking but the damage starts from the first pack of cigarettes.

When someone smokes, the blood vessels of the skin narrow and therefore there is reduced blood circulation in the skin dermis, in the layer of skin below the epidermis where the proteins collagen and elastin are produced. The dermis is responsible for wound repair and skin cohesion, and when it is not well supplied with blood, these functions are reduced.

In 2006, a meta-analysis by University of Toronto scientists on the relationship of skin health to smoking found that certain substances contained in tobacco such as nicotine, carbon monoxide, tar, formaldehyde, ammonia, mercury, lead and cadmium reduce blood flow to the skin.

Thus, the oxygen circulating in the skin is reduced even up to 30%, the skin architecture is destroyed and the collagen and elastin proteins that give the skin strength and make it more elastic are broken down. Decreased blood circulation due to smoking can make someone look paler in the face.

Photos of twins

A study provides photographic evidence of the wrinkles caused by smoking.

Scientists from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, looked at 79 pairs of identical twins where one was a non-smoker and the other a smoker, or both smoked but one smoked for at least 5 years longer than another.

The twins were photographed by a professional photographer and filled out detailed questionnaires about their medical history and lifestyle. The photos were evaluated by Case Medical University Hospital plastic surgeons, who were blinded to who had smoked and for how long.

As Dr. Bachman Gyron, professor and head of the Department of Plastic Surgery at CWRU, and his colleagues write in the journal "Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery," smokers had more wrinkles on the face and neck, while there was more sagging of the skin and bags under their eyes.

Decreased collagen production

The effect of smoking on causing wrinkles is not limited to the face. Studies have shown that smoking also causes wrinkles in other parts of the body such as the inside of the arms, the neck and the chest.

In March 2007, e.g., a University of Michigan study was published in the journal Archives of Dermatology that showed that the skin on the inside of the arms ages much faster in smokers than in non-smokers.

According to the British Dermatology Society, smoking stimulates the action of an enzyme which breaks down collagen and it also reduces its production, resulting in wrinkles everywhere on the skin. In fact, the study showed that the reduction in collagen production can reach 40% due to smoking. Smoking also reduces the water concentration in the skin, making it drier and more fragile.

It should be noted that women have less collagen than men and are therefore more sensitive to the effect of smoking on wrinkles.

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