Smoking and Skin

Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body. Some of these harmful effects are immediate.
Did you know second-hand smoke is even more dangerous than the smoke you inhale when smoking? second-hand smoke doesn’t go through the filter at the end of the cigarette, it just goes directly into your lungs. The levels of nicotine, tar, nitric oxide, and carbon monoxide are at least twice as high in second-hand smoke.
If you smoke, or if you breathe in second-hand smoke, you’re getting a lot of skin damage. The collagen destroying enzymes (MMPs) ramp us when exposed to tobacco smoke, causing increased wrinkling and visible aging of the skin. Aging of the skin means that it droops, develops wrinkles and lines, and can become dry and coarse with uneven skin coloring and broken blood vessels (telangiectasia). Smokers often appear gaunt and develop an orange or gray complexion.
Women who smoke have a harder time getting pregnant and, if they conceive, can harm the health of their baby. Smoking can also lead to early menopause, which increases your risk of developing certain diseases like heart disease.
Smoking delays wound healing, including skin injuries and surgical wounds. It increases the risk of wound infection, graft or flap failure, death of tissue, and the formation of blood clots.
Smokers have bigger bellies and less muscle than non-smokers. They are more likely to develop type two diabetes, even if they don’t smoke every day. Smoking also makes it harder to control diabetes once you already have it. Diabetes is a serious disease that can lead to blindness, heart disease, kidney failure, and amputations.
As if lung cancer wasn’t enough, you need to know that smoking causes much more than just lung cancer.