Smoking Causes Acne

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Lolita Carrico

Having acne as an adult may be a little more embarrassing than suffering from it as a teen.  At least teens go through it together due to hormones, but it’s not an easy situation to deal with in your professional and dating life.

At some point during their adult lives, 25% of men and 50% of women will be affected by adult acne.  Possible causes include stress, hormones and bacteria, but one cause is for sure – smoking.  The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology reported that adult acne is “significantly correlated” with smoking.

Besides the risk of lung cancer, giving you bad breath and yellow teeth, adult acne is just another check mark on the list of reasons to quit smoking.  In the study, 72.9 percent of the women with adult acne studied were smokers and the more they smoked, the more severe their acne was. Nobody said quitting is easy, but there are many over-the-counter aids to help and it can save your health and your skin.