Dangerous Liaison Between Wrinkles and Lung Disease.

Before you run to your vanity mirror and assess the amount of wrinkles you have, the kind of wrinkles researchers recently linked to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are not the kind of wrinkles normally associated with aging. They are pronounced wrinkles caused by long-term smoking.

The correlation between accelerated facial wrinkling and predisposition to COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) was reported in the June 2006 issue of a British medical journal, Thorax.  One hundred forty-nine current and ex-smokers with a family  history of COPD participated in the study. One hundred twenty-four had no or minor wrinkling and twenty-five were wrinkled.

Results of the study showed that the ability to expel air was significantly lower in participants with the most wrinkles. In addition, facial wrinkling was associated with a dramatic increased risk of COPD and more extensive emphysema, demonstrating that facial wrinkling can give smokers a clue to their susceptibility to COPD even before the illness is diagnosed. In fact, the researchers found that, “cigarette smokers who had a large amount of facial wrinkling were five times more likely to have COPD than smokers who were less wrinkled.” (1)

This recent study supports an earlier investigation conducted at Hospital Germans Tria I Pujol, Spain, where researchers examined lung function in non smokers and smokers with and without COPD.  The researchers noticed that the elastic fiber in both the lungs and skin were changed in those that smoked the longest amount of time. Researchers concluded that the relationship between lung function impairment with an obstructive pattern and the condition of elastic fibers (gives skin its elasticity) depends on cumulative smoking. The author stated, “This suggests a common effect of smoking on the elastic fibers in both lung and skin.(2)

Another study conducted at McGill University, Canada, revealed “smoking is strongly associated with numerous dermatologic conditions, including poor wound healing, wrinkling and premature skin aging, squamous cell carcinoma, psoriasis, hair loss, oral cancers, and other oral conditions. In addition, it has an impact on the skin lesions observed in diabetes, lupus, and AIDS,” the author continued.  What is the mechanism of action behind smoke and its impact on the skin?

One article published in a German medical journal reported that, “Changes in the characteristics of the blood, increased constriction of blood vessels, and damage to blood vessels play a large role in impaired wound healing, thromboangiitis oblierans, and peripheral arterial obstructive diseases. Collagen metabolism is especially important in wound healing and skin aging. Smoking also suppresses immune function, which promotes a wide range of diseases of the skin and contributes to the pathogenesis of various virus infections, malignant melanoma, epithelial tumors of the skin, and neighboring mucous membranes. (3)

How does this revelation help smokers?
Being forewarned is being forearmed. According to the World Health Organization, “COPD will become the third-biggest cause of death worldwide by 2020. The disease affects people over 40 who have been smoking for several years. Although there is no cure for COPD, for physicians, pronounced wrinkling could help them provide their patients with an early prevention protocol, such as a stop-smoking program, an antioxidant-rich diet, or possibly more vitamin D. Dermatologists can also play a more active role in promoting smoking cessation by providing their expertise on the damaging effects of smoking on the skin. (4)

References:
1. Thorax online, June 14, 2006
2. Exp Dermatol, 2005 Oct;14(10):744-51
3. Hautarzt, 2004 mar;55(3):301-15;quiz 316
4. J Cutan Med Surg, 2004 Nov-Dec;8(6):415-23