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a team of researchers at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) have just found another. A study led by Dr. Christian A Pineau, Co-Director of the Lupus and Vasculitis clinic at the MUHC, has clearly linked skin damage and rashes to smoking in people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The study was published in a recent issue of the Journal of Rheumatology.
SLE is a long-term autoimmune disorder affecting about one in every 2000 people. About 90 per cent of SLE patients are women, many of them young. Symptoms are caused by an overactive immune system, and the disease can cause inflammation and damage in almost any organ system, including the skin.
"Up to 85 per cent of people with SLE develop skin involvement at some point," explains Dr. Pineau. "Our study shows that the risk of skin damage such as permanent hair loss and scarring from skin inflammation is significantly increased in smokers. So is the rate of active lupus rash."
While there is no cure for SLE, symptoms can be treated with drugs. "However, smoking may interfere with the effectiveness of some medications used to control skin disease in SLE," says Dr. Sasha Bernatsky, study co-author and physician in the MUHC's Rheumatology Division. "This may be part of the reason why smoking heightens skin damage in SLE.
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Belgian researchers studying the effect of nicotine in mice found that it activates a molecular pathway in membranes in the skin, nose and mouth known to play a role in inflammation.
This may explain why nicotine patches and other nicotine replacement therapies can make people itch, they said in a study published in Nature, and could help in developing treatments to help people quit smoking with fewer irritating side effects. . . .
Until now, scientists had thought that irritation from nicotine patches and other nicotine treatments came from stimulation of nerve receptors that convey painful stimuli from the skin and the linings of the nose and mouth.
But Karel Talavera of the Leuven Catholic University in Belgium found that in mice, nicotine also directly activates TRPA1, a pathway or channel in cells known to convey information about irritating substances and inflammatory pain.
They also found that mice lacking TRPA1 showed no irritation when nicotine was put into their noses.
"The identification of TRPA1 as a nicotine target ... may facilitate the development of smoking cessation therapies with less adverse effects," the researchers wrote.
Semnan, Iran — A recent study indicates that there is a significant association between cigarette smoking and the development and severity of acne lesions. According to one expert, acne patients who withdraw from cigarette smoking can improve their acne condition.
Whether smoking induces acne remains controversial. However, an increasing number of studies are concluding that cigarette smoking causes a new disease entity called "smoker’s acne."
"It is known that cigarette smoking increases the levels of carbon monoxide within the body, which in turn stimulates the sebaceous glands to produce excessive amounts of sebum.
"This increased production of sebum will inevitably clog the hair follicles, which in turn will cause the erythematous papular and nodular lesions commonly seen in acne patients.
"This increased and continual production of sebum will likely lead to a worsening of the acne condition," says Mohammad Nassaji-Zavareh, M.D., of the department of infectious diseases, Fatemieh Hospital, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
d hair -- may be placing darker pigmented smokers at increased susceptibility to nicotine dependence and tobacco-related carcinogens than lighter skinned smokers, according to scientists.
"We have found that the concentration of melanin is directly related to the number of cigarettes smoked daily, levels of nicotine dependence, and nicotine exposure among African Americans," said Gary King, professor of biobehavioral health, Penn State.
King states that previous research shows that nicotine has a biochemical affinity for melanin. Conceivably, this association could result in an accumulation of the addictive agent in melanin-containing tissues of smokers with greater amounts of skin pigmentation.
"The point of the study is that, if in fact, nicotine does bind to melanin, populations with high levels of melanin could indicate certain types of smoking behavior, dependence, and health outcomes that will be different from those in less pigmented populations," explained King. "And the addiction process may very well be longer and more severe."
The team's findings appear in the June issue of the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior.
the growing number of cosmetic-surgery patients are motivated to quit for other reasons: vanity, and the threat of not being able to get a coveted new face, stomach or pair of breasts. . . .
For the last 5 to 10 years, many plastic and cosmetic surgeons have refused to operate on smokers, especially those seeking a face-lift, tummy tuck, or breast-lift — procedures that require skin to be shifted.
“Nicotine causes the tiny blood vessels in the skin to clamp down or constrict, which reduces blood supply to the skin,” said Dr. Darshan Shah, a plastic surgeon in Bakersfield, Calif. Complications can include poor wound healing, increased risk of infection, longer-lasting bruises, and raised, red scars. . . .
Plastic and cosmetic surgeons recommend quitting a minimum of two weeks before and after procedures, though some require longer to be extra safe. (Smokers also run the risk of infection and respiratory complications during anesthesia). For instance, Dr. Jeffrey Rosenthal, the chief of plastic surgery at Bridgeport Hospital in Connecticut, mandates six weeks of smoke-free living before eyelid surgery or breast augmentation, and six months to a year before a tummy tuck.
They also take it upon themselves to devise smoking cessation plans, prescribe drugs like Wellbutrin or Chantix and recommend hypnotists or support groups. . . .
Then there’s the matter of the cosmetic surgeon’s reputation. It can’t help business if a cigarette-loving patient ends up looking like the Bride of Frankenstein.
Twenty-five years ago, it may have been more acceptable for a patient to have undergone surgical procedures while smoking. Nowadays if a doctor knew a patient was smoking and they did flap surgery [an operation where shifting skin is required] many of us would say that’s malpractice.Dr. Patrick McMenamin, the president-elect of the American Association of Cosmetic Surgery.
Women who smoke are more likely to have noninflammatory acne, especially blackheads and blocked pores, than nonsmokers are, according to the British Journal of Dermatology.
How much a woman smoked didn't seem to have an effect on the severity of breakouts. But those who had had acne as teens were four times more likely to have "smoker's acne" as an adult.
While Asian men generally have less trouble than Caucasians with the most common form of hereditary male baldness, smoking cigarettes may erase that edge, researchers have said.
Smoking may destroy hair follicles, interfere with the way blood and hormones are circulated in the scalp or increase the production of estrogen, said Lin-Hui Su of the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital and Tony Hsiu-Hsi Chen of National Taiwan University in Taipei.
A look at 740 men in Taiwan with an average age of 65 found cigarette use played an important role "in the development of moderate or severe" hair loss, Su and Chin said, in cases where the men smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day.
Don't blame breastfeeding for sagging breasts -- a new study has found that feeding does not affect breast shape, but smoking does.
Researchers at the University of Kentucky, led by plastic surgeon Brian Rinker, arrived at this conclusion after a study with patients in Britain. The findings were presented at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons this week.
'A lot of times, if a woman comes in for a breast lift or a breast augmentation, she'll say 'I want to fix what breastfeeding did to my breasts',' Rinker said. . . .
The results showed no difference in the degree of breast ptosis -- the medical term for sagging of the breast -- for those women who breastfed and those who did not.
The team, however, found that several other factors did affect breast sagging, including age, the number of pregnancies, and whether the patient smoked.
'Smoking breaks down a protein in the skin called elastin
Smokers have a higher risk of developing psoriasis, a study suggests.
US researchers found that heavier smokers have a greater risk of the skin condition and this only falls back to normal 20 years after quitting.
The study of 79,000 nurses published in the American Journal of Medicine also found that people with psoriasis who smoke had more severe disease.
It is thought that toxins in cigarette smoke may affect parts of the immune system associated with psoriasis.
Women who smoke are more likely to develop a form of acne than those who do not, research from Italy suggests.
A study of 1,000 women found over 40% those who smoked had non-inflammatory acne, characterised by blocked pores, large white heads and small cysts.
This compared with 10% of non-smokers, the study published in the British Journal of Dermatology found.
However, the link between smoking and spots is controversial, and the authors admit other factors may play a role.
Nevertheless, the team from the San Gallicano Dermatological Institute in Rome said they felt their findings could lead to non-inflammatory acne (NIA) being seen as "a new entity among smoking-related cutaneous diseases".
They dubbed it "smokers' acne face".
A condition called "smoker's acne" - which leaves smokers with blocked pores and spots - has been identified by researchers at the San Gallicano Dermatological Institute in Rome.
Women are particularly vulnerable to the condition, according to a report in the British Journal of Dermatology.
In a study of 1,000 women aged 25 to 50, 42 per cent of the smokers had acne, compared to only 10 per cent of non-smokers. . . .
The research identified a particular type of acne called NIA (non-inflammatory acne) to be common among smokers.
Dr Bruno Capitanio, one of the study's authors, said: "Our study demonstrates that NIA affects a high percentage of women and is especially high among smokers.
He rubbed the tobacco-infused gel on his hands. Sniffed them, even licked them at one point. Then he tried another application.
"I could definitely still smoke a cigarette now," Mark Hemmis said.
That would make the score - lighting up: 1, rubbing it on: 0.
Hemmis is a smoker who agreed to test Nicogel, a newly introduced product that is supposed to ease the craving for cigarettes, at least temporarily, until you can get to one of the fewer and fewer places where smoking is still allowed. As the owner of the Phoenix Emporium bar and restaurant in Ellicott City, Hemmis was particularly interested in the gel - his place had to go smoke-free when the Howard County ban went into effect on the first of this month, eight months before a new statewide ban.
Such bans delight the makers of Nicogel . . .
What I found yesterday, in a quick and decidedly nonscientific survey, is that even if Nicogel is successful in reducing the physical craving for tobacco, I'm not sure it can address all the other aspects that make smoking so tough to give up. . . .
While Hemmis was intrigued by Nicogel - he could envision offering it to customers who might otherwise leave to go smoke - he thought it was too expensive. (I paid $6.99 for a 10-application box.)
"It's a novelty," he said. "It's like the 'Alcohol Without Liquid' machine that we had for a little while."
Yes, the infamous AWOL machine, which vaporized alcohol for inhaling rather than imbibing, and purported to give its users a more potent but less caloric buzz. Until, that is, state legislators heard about it.
"They're banned now, too," Hemmis said.
A new study from the University of Michigan Health System adds a new dimension to the link between cigarette smoking and skin damage. The study suggests that smoking may be associated with a higher degree of aging on areas of skin, such as that of the inside of the upper arm, that are not normally exposed to sunlight.
“We examined non-facial skin that was protected from the sun, and found that the total number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day and the total years a person has smoked were linked with the amount of skin damage a person experienced,†says Yolanda R. Helfrich, M.D., lead author and assistant professor of dermatology at the U-M Medical School. The study appears in the March issue of the journal Archives of Dermatology.
Beauty salons are to be at the front line of a new campaign to discourage women in their 20s and 30s from falling for the addictive weed.
The plan is to hit young women where it hurts: their looks.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare plans to start a "Smoking kills your looks" campaign from fiscal 2007, the cost of which will be included in its 2007 budgetary request.
The anti-smoking campaign will include leaflets describing how smoking contributes to damaging one's skin, teeth and gums, among other things. Advice on how to quit will also be included.
Middle-aged smokers who have heavily wrinkled faces are five times likelier to suffer from chronic lung disease than smooth-faced counterparts, according to a study.
Smoking is notorious for causing premature ageing of the skin, as well as causing emphysema and bronchitis, which block the airways and restrict the flow of oxygen around the body.
British researchers wanted to find out whether the extent of facial lines could be a telltale of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as this group of ailments is called.
They studied 149 current and former middle-aged smokers, 68 of whom had COPD.