Stop Smoking
for Good!
Extract from Chapter 2 - Why
Stop Smoking? The Bad News
The skin is affected
by tobacco smoke in two ways. The first being the
smoke released into the environment has a drying effect
on your skin's surface. The second way the skin is affected
happens because smoking restricts the blood vessels and
reduces the amount of blood that flows to the skin. This
depletes the skin of oxygen and other essential nutrients.
Another explanation
for smokers appearing more wrinkled than non-smokers is
that they 'squint' in response to the irritating nature
of the smoke getting into their eyes, and 'pucker' the
mouth when drawing on a cigarette thus resulting in wrinkles
around the eyes and mouth.
The more a person smokes
the more risk of developing premature wrinkles. Recent
research suggests that the ageing effects on the skin
by smoking may be due to an increase in the production
of an enzyme that breaks down collagen in the skin. Collagen
helps to maintain the skin's elasticity
Smokers in their 40s
will often have as many facial wrinkles as non-smokers
who are in their 60s. The good news is that a South Korean
study of smokers, non-smokers and ex-smokers aged between
20 to 69 found that, although current smokers had a higher
degree of facial wrinkling than non-smokers, ex-smokers
who had started smoking at a young age but managed to
quit had fewer facial wrinkles than current smokers.
Long term and heavy
smokers may find that the skin of the fingers and the
fingernails on the hand they use to smoke become discolored.
Smoking can also cause the teeth to become yellow in color
and is a cause of bad breath.
Compared to non-smokers,
people who smoke are more likely to develop psoriasis,
a chronic skin condition which, although not life-threatening,
can be very uncomfortable and disfiguring.
The risk seems to be
more common among women than men and appears to be more
likely to occur in people who have been smoking over longer
periods of time. Smoking may be responsible for as many
as one quarter of all psoriasis cases.
Smoking can also affect your ability to reproduce
How Smoking Affects Men
For men in their 30's
and 40's smoking can increase the risk of erectile dysfunction
by about 50%. Erection is unable to happen unless blood
can flow freely into the penis.
Smoking can damage
blood vessels and cause them to deteriorate because nicotine
narrows the arteries that lead to the penis and reduces
the flow and pressure of the blood.
This narrowing effect
increases over time, so although a person may not have
immediate problems, they could develop over time.
Erection problems in
smokers could be an early warning signal that cigarettes
are already damaging other areas of the body with more
serious consequences, for example the blood vessels that
supply the heart.
How Smoking Affects Women
Women who smoke often
take longer to conceive, with the chances of conceiving
amongst smokers falling by 10-40% per cycle. The more
a woman smokes the longer she is likely to take to conceive.
What does Smoking do to other people?
There are many sound
health-related reasons to give up smoking, and not just
for yourself; but to also to protect those around you.
Babies born to mothers
who smoke when pregnant are twice as likely to be born
prematurely and with a low birth weight.
Children who grow up
in homes where one or both parents smoke have twice the
risk of developing asthma and asthmatic bronchitis. They
are also at higher risk of developing allergies. Children
under two years old are also more prone to severe respiratory
infections and cot death.
For adults, passive
smoking does seem to increase the risk of developing lung
cancer but the evidence for an increased risk of heart
disease is as yet unproven.
