8. Skin Diseases

Wrinkles of the Skin

For many smokers the appearing of wrinkles, or the fear that they feel for them to appear is a better motivating factor to stop smoking than the fear for cancer, for heart or pulmonary disease. According to research studies smoking women have grey and pale skin, and more wrinkles than smoking men have. Women who have smoked a pack of cigarettes per day or more for about 25 years, have five times as many wrinkles as non-smokers have.

Skin consists of two layers: epidermis on the surface and dermis below it. The exact mechanism how tobacco causes wrinkles is unknown. A smoker’s elastin is thicker and more fragmented.  One reason for this may be the continuous lack of oxygen in the dermis caused by smoking. Reduced collagen production as the result of continuous lack of oxygen may be another reason, and also genetic factors.

Favre-Racouchot syndrome is more common among smokers
In a research study on Hidradenitis Suppurativa patients, 84 % of the females and 85 % of the males were smokers at the outbreak of the disease. It is possible that smoking makes the person susceptible to Hidradenitis Suppurativa by changing the functions of neutrophils and sweat glands, by excreting in the sweat those toxic substances that tobacco contains and by impairing the healing process of the wound.

Palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP)

PPP and smoking has been investigated in several research studies. The studies indicate that 80 – 100 % of PPP patients are smokers. Unfortunately even stopping smoking does not always have a positive effect on the course of the disease. The pathophysiological mechanism between smoking and PPP is unknown, but change that has taken place in the functioning of neutrophils is probably one cause.

Psoriasis

The connection between smoking and psoriasis has been widely studied. There exists a clear link, but the link is not as strong as it is in the case of PPP. The pathophysiological mechanism between smoking and psoriasis is not totally clear.

Cancer

Smoking increases the risk of catching epithelial cancer of the skin, and smoking is also more common in basal cell carcinoma and melanoma. This effect is probably due to smoking affecting the immune system. Smoking can have a negative effect on the prognosis of skin cancer.
Smoking is a significant risk factor in lip cancer. There are texts about oral cancer in connection with Cancer Diseases.
Buerger’s disease and its manifestations on the skin are strongly linked with smoking. Smoking also causes yellow spots on the fingers and nails. Smoking is also a risk factor for Discoid Lupus Erythematosus. There are also research studies which have indicated that smokers would have increased probability of premature grey hair.