Quit. Smoking. NOW.

[bombscience]

I have been a smoker who has tried to quit SO many times. I'm still fighting the battle, but for anyone who is a smoker on this board that is losing their hair, here are studies in animals and humans that should scare the f&$k out of you. That is if you're not already scared that you wiill die of smoking someday.

Toxicol Lett 2000 Apr 3;114(1-3):117-23, Induction of alopecia in mice exposed to cigarette smoke., D'Agostini F, et al,

Besides being responsible for a high proportion of those chronic degenerative diseases that are the leading causes of death in the population, tobacco smoking has been associated with skin diseases. Smoke genotoxicants are metabolized in hair follicle cells, where they form DNA adducts and cause DNA damage. The suspicion was raised that, in humans, a link may exist between smoking and both premature grey hair and hair loss. In order to check this hypothesis, we carried out a study in C57BL/6 mice exposed whole-body to a mixture of sidestream and mainstream cigarette smoke. After 3 months exposure, most mice developed areas of alopecia and grey hair, while no such lesions occurred either in sham-exposed mice or in smoke-exposed mice receiving the chemopreventive agent N-acetylcysteine with drinking water. Cell apoptosis occurred massively in the hair bulbs at the edge of alopecia areas. Smoke-exposed mice had extensive atrophy of the epidermis, reduced thickness of the subcutaneous tissue, and scarcity of hair follicles. On the whole, exposure to smoke genotoxic components appears to alter the hair cycle with a dystrophic anagen pattern. Although this mechanism is different from that of genotoxic cytostatic drugs, N-acetylcysteine appears to exert protective effects in both conditions.

Excerpts from: CAPSULES: Researcher links smoking and hair loss in men

By Dianne Partie Lange Los Angeles Times [04/21/03]

The same destructive effects that smoking has on skin, causing premature aging among other visible changes, also may contribute to baldness.

Wound-healing experiments have shown that the smallest blood vessels that supply the scalp are constricted by both acute and long-term smoking, reports Dr. Ralph M. Trueb, a dermatologist at the University Hospital of Zurich, in an editorial in the April issue of Dermatology. Researchers also have detected nicotine and cotinine, a toxic byproduct in smoke, in smokers' hair. Studies have shown that when these substances are processed by cells in the hair follicle, mutations occur in the cell's DNA.

The relationships of cigarette smoking, age, relative weight, and dietary intake to serum dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), androstenedione, cortisol, 3-alpha-androstanediol, 3-alpha-androstanediol-glucuronide, testosterone, albumin-bound testosterone, free testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were examined cross-sectionally in 1241 randomly sampled middle-aged U.S. men. Compared with nonsmokers and independent of relative weight (body mass index) and age, cigarette smokers had increased serum levels of DHEA (18% higher, P = 0.0002), DHEAS (13% higher, P = 0.0007), cortisol (5% higher, P = 0.01), androstenedione (33% higher, P = 0.0001), testosterone (9% higher, P = 0.009), DHT (14% higher, P = 0.004), and SHBG (8% higher, P = 0.004). Androstenedione, total plasma testosterone, albumin-bound testosterone, DHT, and SHBG decreased with increasing relative weight. Age was positively associated with serum SHBG and negatively associated with albumin-bound testosterone, DHEA, and DHEAS. An association was found between alcohol intake and DHEA (r = 0.15; P = 0.0001), cortisol (r = 0.10; P = 0.0007), and 3-alpha-androstanediol-glucuronide (r = 0.08; P = 0.0004). Cortisol was the only hormone that was associated with carbohydrate intake (r = -0.09; P = 0.002). The only hormones associated with dietary lipids were DHT (for vegetable fat, r = 0.07; P = 0.02), cortisol (for total fat, r = 0.08; P = 0.007), and SHBG (for animal fat, r = -0.06; P = 0.05). In addition, SHBG was positively associated with dietary (r = 0.07; P = 0.008) and crude (r = 0.08; P = 0.007) fiber. These data suggest that serum adrenal steroid and sex hormone concentrations in middle-aged men are more influenced by cigarette smoking, age, and obesity than by dietary intake; however, serum adrenal steroids were influenced by alcohol intake.

Hautanen A, Manttari M, Kupari M, Sarna S, Manninen V, Frick MH, Adlercreutz H. Cigarette smoking is associated with elevated adrenal androgen response to adrenocorticotropin. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 1993 Aug;46(2):245-51

Cigarette smoking alters the pattern of endogenous steroid levels. We examined this phenomenon in two separate male groups. Group A consisted of 189 dyslipidemic men participating in the Helsinki Heart Study and group B of 100 men including patients with heart disease and healthy controls. The subjects in the latter group underwent ACTH-testing. In group A, smokers had significantly higher basal androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) levels and androstenedione/cortisol ratios than nonsmokers. Mean concentrations of cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), androstanediol glucuronide, testosterone, and sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG) did not differ between smokers and nonsmokers. In group B, smokers had lower high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol and apolipoprotein AI and higher triglyceride levels than nonsmokers. Basal androstenedione and ACTH stimulated androstenedione and DHEA concentrations were higher in smokers. No significant differences were found in basal insulin, SHBG, estrone, estradiol, testosterone, free testosterone, and dihydrotestosterone concentrations between smokers and nonsmokers. These results suggest that smoking decreases the activity of either 21- or 11 beta-hydroxylase in the adrenal cortex, which results in increased secretion of adrenal androgens.

 

[Trent]

there's some irony here, i used to casually smoke, usually only when i drink. but since hairloss has started affecting me, i became pretty depressed and became an avid smoker. so i don't know what to do, smoking helps me relief the stress from hairloss, and apparently smoking is leading to my hairloss. dammit.

 

[Cassin]

Smoke free 9 months now.

The smell of a cig makes me want to literally vomit. Saturday night I was with a group of folks and we were on their patio having a few cold ones and all of them were smoking but 2 of us. I had to walk down the steps for a minute and fill my lungs with clean air because I was moments from puking from the smell. I had heard from a few past smokers that this would happen but it is amazing how repulsive my body now finds smoking.

For me the hardest part was not lighting up the second I got in my car.

 

[Trent]

cheers to that, i dont' know how i would go on long trips without smoking. i probably should quit now before i'm really addicted, but i just enjoy it so much :-(

 

[AKA]

Smoking was the first thing to go, along with other stimulants, when I started addressing my hairloss last December. I just reasoned that anything undermining the bodies circulation had to be a major no-no for healthy hair.

 

[drinkrum]

Smoke free 9 months now.

The smell of a cig makes me want to literally vomit. Saturday night I was with a group of folks and we were on their patio having a few cold ones and all of them were smoking but 2 of us. I had to walk down the steps for a minute and fill my lungs with clean air because I was moments from puking from the smell. I had heard from a few past smokers that this would happen but it is amazing how repulsive my body now finds smoking.

For me the hardest part was not lighting up the second I got in my car.

Been smoke-free for a month now. And I am repulsed by smoke now too. I usually didn't even smoke cigarettes but smoked cloves which are much worse for your lungs.

I know exactly what you mean though about lighting up in the car. I drive all the time and take long road trips. Smoking cloves every half-hour used to get me through the long drives, prevent me from falling asleep at the wheel, and also let me sort of pace myself (1 cigarette every 50 miles). This has been the hardest part about quitting.

D.

 

[Petchsky]

Drinkrum,

I know exactly what you mean though about lighting up in the car. I drive all the time and take long road trips. Smoking cloves every half-hour used to get me through the long drives, prevent me from falling asleep at the wheel, and also let me sort of pace myself (1 cigarette every 50 miles). This has been the hardest part about quitting.

For me the hard part of quitting was not the need for nicotine but the routine that you get into... for me it was smoking while i read the paper... I had no problem quitting, except when i sat down to read the paper i really felt the need just like Drinkrum when driving, so there is more to quitting fags than just the nicotine addiction.

What are cloves? do you smoke them on a pipe?

 

[So long Hair]

cheers to that, i dont' know how i would go on long trips without smoking. i probably should quit now before i'm really addicted, but i just enjoy it so much :-(

You only THINK you enjoy it. Think back to the first time you took a puff of a smoke. Disgusting, wasn't it? Well, it still is disgusting, even though you don't realise it. The truth is, every time you light up, the only thing you are "enjoying" is the fact that your body is being boosted with a lovely dose of nicotine- the deadly drug your body now craves. The reason why you think you're enjoying the taste and the sensation of the smoke ripping down your throat is because you've become so used to it. That part is just a habit. Get the picture?

It is this simple philosophy that features in Alan Carr's famous book that made me quit smoking. That and all the obvious other reasons- including hairloss.

 

[drago]

Dumb question, I used to smoke but quit a few years ago. Then I started chewing...alot. Do you think the same chemicals besides nicotine enter the body as with smoking? Or are they just byproducts from the smoke?

 

[gonna_win]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh :freaked2:

 

[KevinW]

Losing hair can be a good motivator to clean up other parts of your life. I used to smoke casually but after a trip though Europe and being in close quarters with some very heavy smokers (Germans and Italians mostly) I can't stand the smell of it. On a similar note, I stopped drinking coffee recently (no correlation to hairloss than I am aware of) and I feel more balanced day-to-day. I've been chugging the green tea though, so maybe that has added a positive twist.

 

[BadHairDecade]

for what it's worth, I'm proud of all you guys that have quit....I can only imagine that quitting had to be one of the hardest things to do.

My whole family smokes....actually, my Mother quit a few years ago after she developed lymphoma...probably not related to smoking but you never know.

 

[gonna_win]

Losing hair can be a good motivator to clean up other parts of your life. I used to smoke casually but after a trip though Europe and being in close quarters with some very heavy smokers (Germans and Italians mostly) I can't stand the smell of it. On a similar note, I stopped drinking coffee recently (no correlation to hairloss than I am aware of) and I feel more balanced day-to-day. I've been chugging the green tea though, so maybe that has added a positive twist.

I agree

 

[drinkrum]

Drinkrum,

I know exactly what you mean though about lighting up in the car. I drive all the time and take long road trips. Smoking cloves every half-hour used to get me through the long drives, prevent me from falling asleep at the wheel, and also let me sort of pace myself (1 cigarette every 50 miles). This has been the hardest part about quitting.

For me the hard part of quitting was not the need for nicotine but the routine that you get into... for me it was smoking while i read the paper... I had no problem quitting, except when i sat down to read the paper i really felt the need just like Drinkrum when driving, so there is more to quitting fags than just the nicotine addiction.

What are cloves? do you smoke them on a pipe?

Cloves are cigarettes that contain the clove spice as well as tobacco and are made usually in Indonesia. You probably have seen or smelled people smoking cloves; the smoke is quite thick (almost like a cigar) and it smells very sweet. Some of the cloves come in black wrappers and are sugar-tipped. They are just so delicious but very bad for you. They contain a substance, eugenol, that numbs the throat and gives a feeling of euphoria. Very addictive stuff.

Here's a good article: http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2317.html

D.

 

[Guest]

smoking ages your skin faster than age itself !

 

[blue]

Overexpossure to the sun causes alot of our wrinkles also

 

[Temples]

Another benefit of quitting smoking is that it frees up more money for your regimen.

 

[Guest]

:band:

anyone wanna join my new band

 

[drinkrum]

:band:

anyone wanna join my new band

Depends. Is that girl in your avatar going to be a groupie?

D.

 

[rk55]

smokeless tobacco

I started chewing tobacco to help quit smoking also, and I have noticed increased hairloss ever since. Does anybody know if nicotine and the other toxins associated with chewing tobacco promote hairloss? I used to smoke only about two packs a week, but I definitely chew more than that. Will the increase in nicotine in the bloodstream increase DHT levels?