Gen Z’s Love for Vaping Linked to Premature Aging, Experts Warn
The rapidly aging faces of Gen Z can also blame e-cigarettes for their abnormally sallow skin. Those born between 1997 and 2012 came of age during the rise of nicotine vaporizers, which were touted by manufacturers as a safe and stench-free alternative to smoking. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said that people aged 18 to 24 were most likely to use e-cigarettes among all adults, and adults 18 to 44 — Gen Z and millennials — were more likely to be dual users of e-cigarettes and cigarettes compared with adults aged 45 and over.
Alongside the potentially lethal effects of long-term cigarette use, including several types of cancer, it’s also known that the combustion and inhalation of tobacco smoke can cause bad breath, yellowing of the mouth and teeth, and premature wrinkles. But vaporizing devices sold to consumers as a tool to help them kick their nicotine addictions have lately revealed potentially killer cocktails of chemicals and pathogens in their flavor cartridges — in some cases leading to mysterious cases of respiratory illness. Now, vapes could be behind why Gen Z say they’re “aging like milk,” according to dermatologists who spoke to the Daily Mail.
The appeal of vaping is in its smoke-free design — but Dr. Bav Shergill, member of the British Association of Dermatologists, says the nicotine can break down the elasticity that gives skin its “lift.” “Yes, there are certain things in cigarette smoke that can damage your skin, but nicotine is a big problem, it is an addictive drug that does have adverse skin affect,” Shergill told the Daily Mail. “Nicotine is the active ingredient, and it is associated with all kinds of skin problems. It is associated with acne, psoriasis, and breakouts,” Shergill continued.
When skin is repeatedly damaged by toxic chemicals, it triggers the immune system causing chronic inflammation and exacerbates certain skin conditions including psoriasis. “As your body starts to get inflamed it starts to increase the blood supply, so you get blotchy and red,” said Shergill. The combination of sunlight and a chemical environment caused by smoking and vaping can restrict blood flow to the skin over time which is needed to repair and regenerate healthy skin cells. The heat generated by these devices can also lead to “thermal damage” — leading to dehydrated skin with a dulled appearance, and more wrinkles as disappearing collagen in the skin allows gravity to do its dirty work.
