Smokers Age Faster than Others; Twins Study

A new study conducted on identical twins has shown that smokers age faster than non-smokers.

Smokers are more likely to have visible bags under the eyes and more wrinkles around the chin, according to researchers at the Departments of Plastic Surgery and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals of Cleveland and colleagues.

Smoking is linked with cancers of liver, bowel, pancreas, bladder and ovary as well. Smoking affects not just the smokers but also those around them. Secondhand smoke and even third hand smoke can cause heart disease, breathing problems, lung cancer, dementia and respiratory tract infections. Health experts say that that giving up smoking at any age can be beneficial to health.

The present study was based on 79 pairs of identical twins who were participating in the Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio. One person in each pair was a smoker. Researchers took their photos and showed them to a panel of judges. The participants were scored on the basis of the wrinkles and other age related facial features.

The judges could spot the smoker, in about 57 percent of the cases just by looking at the facial features.

"This study details the specifics of facial aging brought on by smoking, which primarily affects the middle and lower thirds of the face. It also demonstrates that a 5-year difference in smoking history can cause noticeable differences in facial aging in twins," researchers wrote in the journal.

"Smoking makes you look old. That's all there is to it," Dr. Elizabeth Tanzi, a dermatologist at the Washington Institute of Dermatologic Laser Surgery, told Reuters. "Besides lung cancer, heart attacks and strokes, just one more good reason to stop smoking is that it's definitely making you look a lot older."

The study is published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.