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14/06/2006
Smokers with wrinkles 'more likely to develop lung disease'
Middle-aged smokers who have heavily wrinkled faces are five times as likely to develop progressive lung disease.
Having a heavily lined face was associated with a group of conditions known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, researchers from the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital suggested.
COPD is an umbrella term for a range of progressive chronic lung diseases, such as emphysema and bronchitis, which block the airways and restrict oxygen flow around the body.
More than a million people in the UK are thought to have COPD, although many have not been diagnosed. The World Health Organisation has estimated that it will become the third leading cause of death in the world by 2020.
It is well-known that smoking causes premature ageing of the skin and, similarly, most cases of COPD are caused by smoking.
However, not all smokers go on to develop COPD and the researchers wanted to know if the extent of facial wrinkling might provide a clue as to a smoker's likelihood of having the disease.
The research, published in Thorax, involved the study of 149 current and former middle-aged smokers from 78 families. In all, 68 people were found to have COPD.
More than 80% of the total sample had no or very few facial lines, while 25 had widespread wrinkles.
Forced expiratory volume in one second, which measures lung strength, was found to be significantly lower in those with extensive wrinkling than it was in those whose faces were only minimally lined.
Those with lined faces were found to be five times more likely to have COPD than those without, after taking account of age and the number of years as a smoker.
Facial wrinkling was also associated with triple the risk of more severe emphysema.
Dr Bipen Patel, from the department of respiratory medicine at the Royal Devon & Exeter hospital, said that researchers thought that there might be a "genetic susceptibility" to COPD.
(KMcA)
Having a heavily lined face was associated with a group of conditions known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, researchers from the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital suggested.
COPD is an umbrella term for a range of progressive chronic lung diseases, such as emphysema and bronchitis, which block the airways and restrict oxygen flow around the body.
More than a million people in the UK are thought to have COPD, although many have not been diagnosed. The World Health Organisation has estimated that it will become the third leading cause of death in the world by 2020.
It is well-known that smoking causes premature ageing of the skin and, similarly, most cases of COPD are caused by smoking.
However, not all smokers go on to develop COPD and the researchers wanted to know if the extent of facial wrinkling might provide a clue as to a smoker's likelihood of having the disease.
The research, published in Thorax, involved the study of 149 current and former middle-aged smokers from 78 families. In all, 68 people were found to have COPD.
More than 80% of the total sample had no or very few facial lines, while 25 had widespread wrinkles.
Forced expiratory volume in one second, which measures lung strength, was found to be significantly lower in those with extensive wrinkling than it was in those whose faces were only minimally lined.
Those with lined faces were found to be five times more likely to have COPD than those without, after taking account of age and the number of years as a smoker.
Facial wrinkling was also associated with triple the risk of more severe emphysema.
Dr Bipen Patel, from the department of respiratory medicine at the Royal Devon & Exeter hospital, said that researchers thought that there might be a "genetic susceptibility" to COPD.
(KMcA)
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