Smokers with wrinkles have a higher risk of getting lung cancer than those without wrinkles, a study says.
Researchers, led by Bipen Patel at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, studied 149 current and former smokers in the age group of 45 to 70 from 78 families. They found that middle-aged smokers with heavily lined faces have a five times higher risk of lung disease than their un-wrinkled peers, reported the online edition of BBC News.
Having wrinkles is associated with a group of conditions known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), they said.
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.
The World Health Organisation estimates that COPD will become the third leading cause of death in the world by 2020.
Smoking is already known to cause premature ageing of the skin.
Patel said: “What this research shows is that those who are prone to COPD are also prone to wrinkles.
“If there is a gene for COPD susceptibility, it may also increase the chance of someone developing wrinkles.”
Patel said wrinkles could be seen as a sign that someone was at increased risk of developing COPD.