OBS: Heavy Wrinkles may mean Serious lung disease
Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:53 pm
LONDON (Reuters) - Smokers' heavily wrinkled faces could be an early warning
sign of a serious lung disease, researchers said on Wednesday.
They found that smokers with pronounced wrinkles are five times more likely
than those without marked facial lines to suffer from chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes bronchitis and emphysema.
COPD, a leading cause of death worldwide, is caused by smoking, which also
prematurely ages the skin. So researchers at the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS
Foundation in southwest England studied whether there was a link between the
two.
"This data suggests that if you are a smoker and you are wrinkled you are
more likely to have lung disease," said Dr Bipen Patel who conducted the
study published in the journal Thorax.
"We 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."
COPD begins with a persistent cough and increased mucous. It eventually
leads to fatigue, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing as the lungs
are destroyed.
Because the disease develops gradually, Patel and his team believe facial
wrinkling could be an a sign of the illness before it is diagnosed.
The researchers studied 149 former and current middle-aged smokers and
compared how much they smoked during their lifetime and their sun exposure,
which also damages the skin.
Two dermatologists scored the severity of wrinkling from photographs of the
smokers. Breathing tests and scans were also done to detect any signs of
COPD.
The smokers who were the most wrinkled were far more likely to have changes
in their lungs suggesting COPD, according to the scientists.
They suspect there could be an unknown common mechanism linking COPD and
wrinkling.
"This is the first time that it has been shown that the two are more likely
to occur together," he added.
Deaths from COPD are increasing in most countries. The World Health
Organisation (WHO) estimates it will become the third-biggest cause of death
worldwide by 2020.
The illness afflicts people over 40 who have been smoking for many years. It
contributes to other disorders such as pneumonia, heart disease and stroke.
There is no
Rgds
Soroush
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
sign of a serious lung disease, researchers said on Wednesday.
They found that smokers with pronounced wrinkles are five times more likely
than those without marked facial lines to suffer from chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes bronchitis and emphysema.
COPD, a leading cause of death worldwide, is caused by smoking, which also
prematurely ages the skin. So researchers at the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS
Foundation in southwest England studied whether there was a link between the
two.
"This data suggests that if you are a smoker and you are wrinkled you are
more likely to have lung disease," said Dr Bipen Patel who conducted the
study published in the journal Thorax.
"We 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."
COPD begins with a persistent cough and increased mucous. It eventually
leads to fatigue, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing as the lungs
are destroyed.
Because the disease develops gradually, Patel and his team believe facial
wrinkling could be an a sign of the illness before it is diagnosed.
The researchers studied 149 former and current middle-aged smokers and
compared how much they smoked during their lifetime and their sun exposure,
which also damages the skin.
Two dermatologists scored the severity of wrinkling from photographs of the
smokers. Breathing tests and scans were also done to detect any signs of
COPD.
The smokers who were the most wrinkled were far more likely to have changes
in their lungs suggesting COPD, according to the scientists.
They suspect there could be an unknown common mechanism linking COPD and
wrinkling.
"This is the first time that it has been shown that the two are more likely
to occur together," he added.
Deaths from COPD are increasing in most countries. The World Health
Organisation (WHO) estimates it will become the third-biggest cause of death
worldwide by 2020.
The illness afflicts people over 40 who have been smoking for many years. It
contributes to other disorders such as pneumonia, heart disease and stroke.
There is no
Rgds
Soroush
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]