SMOKING causes wrinkles by upsetting the body’s mechanism for renewing skin,
say scientists in Japan. Dermatologists say the finding confirms the long-held
view that smoking ages skin prematurely.
Skin stays healthy and young-looking because of a fine balance between two
processes that are constantly at work. The first breaks down old skin while the
second makes new skin. The body breaks down the old skin with enzymes called
matrix metalloproteinases, or MMPs. They chop up the fibres that form
collagen—the connective tissue that makes up around 80 per cent of normal
skin.
Akimichi Morita and his colleagues at Nagoya…
