Study of twins shows the effect smoking has on your appearance

If nicotine tablets aren't cutting it for you, this photo series of twins may help you quit smoking.

A study in 2013 published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, found that showing smokers the aesthetic affects of smoking, through side by side photos of twins, one of whom smokes, could help kerb the habit.

According to Health Good, the series of photos used by the society were taken from a broader pool of photos of identical twins taken at the Twins Day Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio, between the years 2007-2010.

(As unbelievably serendipitous as it seems) Twinsburg is real, and is of course the natural place for a festival about twins.

79 twins were identified in which one was a smoker and the other a non-smoker, or there was one twin who had smoked at least five years longer than the other.

To isolate the effect of smoking, the alcohol intake, sunscreen use, and perceived work stress of the twins was also taken into consideration.

The paper Facial Changes Caused by Smoking: A Comparison between Smoking and Nonsmoking Identical Twins, explained that these were then shown to three judges, who scores different facial features.

Smoking twins compared with their nonsmoking counterparts had worse scores for upper eyelid skin redundancy, lower lid bags, malar bags, nasolabial folds, upper lip wrinkles, lower lip vermilion wrinkles, and jowls.

Sounds a treat.

In the discussion, the study noted that smokers are often thinner than non-smokers, which could have been a contributing factor a deflated facial appearance and accentuated wrinkles.

If you already smoke, all is not lost.

The study's author Dr. Bahman Guyuronalso compared the appearance of twins who both smoked, but one of them had been smoking for considerably longer.

The aesthetic effects were once again noticeable.

According to the study's conclusion, even five years was enough to make a significant difference in appearance.

HT Health Good

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