Scientists claim that just by looking at a person's face could unveil whether he or she is a smoker, the actuality is that smokers age faster than non smokers.A study by dermatologists, published in The Lancet, shows that smoking actuates the genes responsible for a skin enzyme that breaks down collagen in the skin.
Collagen is the main structural protein of the skin and maintains the elasticity of the skin. When this starts to deteriorate, skin begins to sag and wrinkle. Professor Antony Young and his colleagues from Guys, Kings and St Thomas' School of Medicine, in London, measured concentrations of the gene MMP-1, which breaks down collagen.Professor Young said: "Smokers have more wrinkles and their skin tends to have a greyish pallor compared to non-smokers. "Smoking tobacco activates this enzyme that breaks down the skin collagen.For smokers, middle-age starts in their early 30s as the tell-tale wrinkles around the mouth and eyes begin to appear. Young female smokers are likely to be wasting money on anti-ageing face creams if they continue to smoke. The best beauty treatment by far is to quit smoking.
