If an increased risk of respiratory illness, cancer and heart disease are not reason enough for many smokers to consider quitting, than perhaps a message focused on hair instead of health may do the trick. 

    Scientists have long speculated cigarette smoke may accelerate hair loss and premature graying. The association was largely attributed to toxins in smoke that can harm hair follicles and damage hormones. According to epidemiological studies, that appears to be the case. A report in the journal BMJ looked at more than 600 men and women, half of them smokers. After controlling for variables, the researchers found a “significant” and “consistent” link between smoking and early graying. 

    Last year, another team studied the link in a group of 740 men in Taiwan, aged 40 to 91 years, notable because Asian men generally have low rates of hereditary baldness. After controlling for age and family histories, the researchers found a greater rate of hair loss among the smokers, a risk that grew with increasing smoking.

    One question is whether the link is a result of tobacco toxins directly affecting the scalp, or of smoking’s causing severe disease that speeds aging.

    THE BOTTOM LINE

    Several studies suggest smoking can lead to premature graying and hair loss.

    如果呼吸系統疾病、癌癥和心臟病增加的風險還不是讓許多吸煙者考慮戒煙的充足理由，也許一條側重于頭發而代替健康的信息可能獲得成功。 

    科學家早就推測香煙煙霧可能會加快脫發和過早老齡化。這種關聯主要是由于煙霧中的毒素可能損害毛囊和破壞荷爾蒙。根據流行病學研究，情況看來是如此。BMJ（英國醫學期刊）的一份報告查看了600多名男性和女性，其中一半人吸煙。在控制了一些變量之后，研究人員發現在吸煙和早期老齡化有“顯著的”和“始終一貫的”聯系。 

    去年，另一支隊伍研究了在臺灣的740名年齡40歲至91歲的一組男性中的這種聯系，突出的因為亞洲男性通常具有較低的遺傳性禿發比例。在控制了年齡和家庭歷史因素之后，研究人員發現在吸煙者之中有更大的脫發比例，其風險隨著吸煙的增加而增長。 

    一個問題是，是否這種聯系是煙草毒素直接影響頭皮的結果，還是吸煙引起嚴重疾病加速老齡化的結果。 

    基本要點

    若干研究顯示，吸煙可能導致過早老齡化和脫發。