Study: Smoking Breaks Down Skin Collagen

Have you ever noticed how smokers tend to look older than their non-smoking counterparts? They often exhibit wrinklier skin and a grayish pallor.

But why? What is going on internally that would cause this effect on smokers' skin?

Scientists think they may have discovered the answer.

A study by dermatologists, published in The Lancet, shows that smoking activates the genes responsible for a skin enzyme that breaks down collagen in the skin.

Collagen is the main structural protein of the skin and keeps it elasticated.

When this starts to disintegrate, 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.

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"Smoking tobacco activates this enzyme that breaks down the skin collagen.

"We did not know that before, we suspected it from studies done in the test-tube, but this is the first proof."

Of course there are skin care products designed to promote your skin’s natural smoothness, elasticity and nourishment.

But we all know the best way to reduce these effects is to quit smoking - or better yet, never begin.