The Benefits Of Cigarette Smoking

• Smoking

Cigarette smoke (CS) contains thousands of chemical substances which contribute to the production of ROS and the generation of oxidative stress. All these radicals, even if they have a short lifespan, it has been identified that are produced by tobacco smoke itself through oxidative stress or seconda-rily through lipid peroxidation triggered by smoke (4). In addition, CS degrades the levels of colla-gen, elastic fibres and proteoglycans affecting the integrity of the dermal connective tissue (16). That way progressively the skin ages prematurely.It has been observed that the evolution of aged skin is related to the number of cigarettes smoked per day. Cigarette smoke provokes vasoconstric-tion in the capillaries of the skin and decreases

It contains ozone in high concentrations, a highly reactive oxidant which if presented in ground Earth (troposphere) becomes threatening for human health, plants and ecosystems. It has generally been accepted that ozone’s deleterious consequences are occurred through biomolecule oxidation with a forthcoming production of ROS or by lipid peroxidation products. Nevertheless, those products are in the majority counteracted by antioxidant supplementation, and therefore ozone’s effect is mainly accused of the generation of oxidative stress. There have been some studies researching the impact of ozone on the cutaneous tissue. Until now, it is supported that it does not penetrate through cells, but the depletion of vitamins E and C by the generation of oxidative stress and the lipid peroxidation that causes can affect the integrity of the skin (15) (27). To conclude with, there is no clear evidence that ozone causes premature skin ageing, but it is accepted that acti-vates stress response mechanisms that may provoke skin pathologies in the feature. Therefore further studies are required in this field to adopt the appropriate precaution

Moreover, it has been observed that Mediterranean diet reduces the rate of cutaneous ageing (29). Also, it is claimed that fruits and vegetables rich in carotenoid substances and vitamins A, C and E prevent oxidative stress and protect the skin from ageing (30). At the same time though, on the contrary, a Cochrane review, observed that the above supplements might increase mortality (25). Consequently, the role of antioxidant supplementation in skin ageing is more complicated and requires further research to be clarified. A possible explanation could be given through the hypothe-sis of mitohormesis where it is found that lower levels of ROS may have a beneficial impact whe-reas excessive amounts of them may disturb their balance with antioxidants and therefore give rise to harmful effects (1). Nevertheless this theory is just an assumption, and as a result, further research needs to be carried