A study conducted on 79 identical twins revealed that smokers look older than they are because they get bags under their eyes and wrinkles on their face due to smoking.
No good can come from smoking and a new study conducted on 79 identical twins proved that yet again. From heart to lung diseases, smoking is responsible for a variety of health issues. A new study found that smoking can also take a toll on your face.
Using the annual Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio (the "Largest Annual Gathering of Twins in the World), researchers gathered data from the 79 identical twins, of which 57 were women. Between each twin, one smoked while the other didn't or one smoked five years more than the other. Close up photos of all participants were taken and shown to a group of plastic surgeons who were not aware of the participants' smoking history. The surgeons were asked to point out "specific components of facial aging" related to smoking. They were able to spot the smoker twin 57 percent of the time.
"Smoking makes you look old. That's all there is to it," Dr. Elizabeth Tanzi told Reuters Health. "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."
Some signs of ageing the surgeons noted included more sagging of the upper eyelids, baggier lower eyelids and bags under the eyes; more facial wrinkles, including lines between the nose and mouth, wrinkling of the upper and lower lips, and sagging chins. More visible signs of ageing were found in the lower half of the face and the difference was more prominent in the twins that were both smokers but with a five year longevity difference.
"It is noteworthy that even among sets of twins where both are smokers, a difference in five years or more of smoking duration can cause visibly identifiable changes in facial aging," researchers said according to Medical Daily.
Environmental factors like work stress, alcohol consumption, and sunscreen use were taken into consideration before researchers drew a conclusion from their findings.
"We tell people, as soon as they stop smoking, the repair to not only to their skin but their lungs, their heart vessels -- it starts to repair itself," said Dr. Robin Ashinoff, medical director of dermatologic surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey.