The ageing effects of smoking

Ads in the good old days were powerful: smoking was an instant “in” to the jet-set lifestyle. You were cool. You were desirable. You were fit and healthy as you skied and sailed yachts.

Of course, the realities were never screened to a susceptible audience. The truth is there is nothing pretty about smoking.

Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and puts you at risk for a myriad of diseases, including heart disease, cancer, stroke and lung diseases such as asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. 

It also causes bad breath, yellow teeth and stained fingers. But one of the obvious effects of smoking is right there for everyone to see. 

Face it
Smoking causes premature ageing of the skin. It sucks away the vital glow of healthy skin, resulting in unsightly wrinkles, lines, and sagging.

According to researchers from the British Medical Association, middle-aged smokers who have heavily wrinkled faces are five times more likely to suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than smooth-faced puffers. 

What is doing the damage?
What are you dragging on? Here are a few of the dangerous substances in cigarettes that contribute to premature ageing:

• Ammonia is often used to clean windows and toilet bowls. By adding ammonia to cigarettes, nicotine in its vapour form can be absorbed through your lungs more quickly. This, in turn, means your brain can get a higher dose of nicotine with each puff.
• Cadmium is used in industrial and consumer products such as batteries, plastics, pigments and metal coatings. It damages the lungs, can cause kidney disease, and may irritate the digestive tract.
• Benzene is a major industrial chemical made from coal and oil. Benzene is used to make other chemicals, as well as some types of plastics, detergents and pesticides. It’s also a component of gasoline and has been linked to leukaemia.
• Formaldehyde is used as glue in wood products and as a preservative in some paints. It can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes, nose and throat, nausea, coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, skin rashes, and allergic reactions.
• Nickel is a hard, silvery-white metal. It causes increased susceptibility to lung infections, chronic bronchitis and reduced lung function.
• Lead is used in ammunition, roofing, gasoline, paints, ceramic products and caulking. Lead can affect almost every organ and system in your body. The most sensitive is the central nervous system, particularly in children. Lead also damages the kidneys and the immune system. Exposure to lead is more dangerous for young and unborn children. Harmful effects include premature births, smaller babies, and decreased mental ability in the infant, learning difficulties, and reduced growth in young children.
• Acetone is present in exhaust gas and landfill sites. Breathing moderate-to-high levels of acetone for short periods of time can cause nose, throat, lung, and eye irritation, headaches, light-headedness, confusion, increased pulse rate, effects on blood, nausea and vomitting, unconsciousness, and possibly coma.
• Pyridine is made from crude coal tar, and is used to dissolve other substances. Headaches, giddiness, a desire to sleep, quickening of the pulse, and rapid breathing have been witnessed in people who have breathed in pyridine.
  

Good to know
Cigarettes filters don’t remove enough tar to make the product less dangerous. Many of these chemicals have been added to make the smoker better able to tolerate toxic amounts of cigarette smoke, and create the taste for more and more…