You knew they hurt you, but you probably didn’t know they hurt you too.
The health effects of drinking too much and smoking are important. Everything from cancer to cardiovascular disease to strokes have been linked to these bad habits. If this is not enough to make you stop smoking , we are going to have to appeal to your vanity: according to new research, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health , excess alcohol and smoking can make you look much older than what you are.
In the study, researchers questioned more than 11,000 people about their cigarette and alcohol habits , and then had medical professionals perform physical exams over the course of 12 years. They were looking for four specific and visible signs of aging: wrinkles in the earlobe, corneal arch, (a gray ring around the corneas in the eye), xanthelasma (yellowish plaques on the eyelids), and alopecia.
The results?
The more cigarettes men smoked (and the longer they smoked ) the more likely three of these visible signs of aging were to develop, including corneal arches, wrinkles in the lobes, and plaques on the eyelids. (There was no relationship between drinking and smoking and alopecia, likely because genetic predisposition and male hormone levels play a larger role in this, the researchers explained.)
In fact, men who smoked the most were more than twice as likely to get yellowish plaques over their eyes as nonsmokers .
Men who drank heavily (meaning they consumed more than 35 drinks per week) were 35 percent more likely to develop corneal arches than those who drank less than seven drinks per week. Those who drank 21-28 drinks a week were also 26 percent more likely to have wrinkles in the earlobe than those who limited their alcohol consumption to seven drinks a week.
But should you worry about these signs?
“These signs have no health implications on their own, just like wrinkles are not harmful,” explains Dr. Janne S. Tolstrup, author of the study. “The reason we call them signs of aging is not because of their aesthetic appearance, but because other research has shown that the early onset of these is associated with conditions such as cardiovascular disease and mortality.”
Basically these signs could be telling you that something is wrong with your body. The yellowish plaques over the eyes, for example, are actually cholesterol deposits, Tolstrup says, and they probably indicate your body is not metabolizing cholesterol.
As a result, you are more likely to experience atherosclerosis or plaque buildup in your arteries. And this, of course, can increase your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
So, not only are your bad habits aging you on the outside, but they are also seriously affecting your health on the inside. You might consider that this year you reduce alcohol consumption and quit smoking forever.