Your hair is usually a pretty good indicator of how healthy you are. Dry, falling, brittle, or limp hair can indicate that you are probably not at your healthiest point in life. One of the factors of premature alopecia or hair loss is smoking.

Smoking causes so many health problems, but a recent study confirms that you can add premature baldness to the list of health risks you face when you decide to light up that stick and take up that habit.

To understand why smoking can cause hair loss, it’s important to understand first what smoking does to your body. Smoking introduces nicotine to your system. Nicotine causes an increase in your adrenaline level, making your heart pump faster while at the same time constricting your blood vessels. This results to a difficulty in achieving optimal blood circulation inside your body. Your hair follicles actually need proper oxygenation and nutrients in order to produce hair. Aside from deterring your hair follicles to grow hair, it may also cause your existing hair to look unhealthy because it is not receiving proper nutrition from your bloodstream.

Smoking can also greatly advance the aging process of your body. This is why smokers will find that compared to non-smokers, they get wrinkles, skin discolorations, and grey or thinning hair earlier. Smoking can also indirectly cause hair fall by causing other health problems.

If early onset of alopecia or hair loss is not enough reason to quit smoking, here are others:

  • Heart diseases – This is one of the leading causes of death all over the world. The possibility of dying through heart diseases because of smoking is higher than dying through lung cancer.
  • Several forms of cancer – It’s not just lung cancer you are at risk of getting when you smoke. Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds, around 200 of which are considered poisonous, and above 60 are considered carcinogens (cancer-causing).
  • Dental issues – smoking causes your teeth to be discolored and stained even if you practice good dental hygiene. It also causes gingivitis. Since it depletes the body’s source of Vitamin C, it can also cause your teeth to get loose and fall out.
  • Discoloration of fingers – Poor oxygenation of the blood can also cause the skin on your hands, especially your fingers to be discolored.
  • Addiction – the nicotine introduced to your body when you smoke enters your brain through the bloodstream within about 10 seconds. Smoking gives you a temporary euphoric feeling that is pleasurable but it doesn’t last long. After smoking, you feel more agitated and anxious, feelings that can be pacified by lighting another stick.
  • Respiratory System issues – Smoking can cause lung cancer, but there are other issues it can cause in your respiratory system. Smoking can cause shortness of breath, asthma, emphysema, tuberculosis, and many more.
  • Osteoporosis – Smoking can prevents your body from absorbing nutrients properly, this includes your bones. As such, smoking can cause early onset of osteoporosis.

The best way to prevent smoking from ruining the health of your hair is to stop. It is easier said than done, but it’s best if you give it a shot. Replace this bad habit with good habits such as exercising, eating healthy food, and taking natural supplements. Some supplements such as Provillus can help improve the growth of hair.

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Filed under: Coping with Hair Loss

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