The list of dangerous consequences of smoking can actually be endless. With no documented benefit of smoking and more than a hundred pitfalls, you can safely cross out smoking from your list of things to do in life. Not only is it harmful for your lungs, researchers suggest that smoking can alter the look of your skin in a way to make it unrecognizable or even dead. According to a study published in the Environmental Health Perspectives, a cigarette is a 'bonanza' of unhealthy germs that if alive can mean serious infections that minute you take it in your mouth.

What are these germs?

According to the study, conducted at the University of Maryland, College Park, there can be more than 5,000 toxic and some even carcinogenic bacterial species of germs living inside a cigarette. A few such germs are E. coli, Klebsiella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa that can cause infections in the uterus and the skin and even food poisoning.

Skin infections caused by smoking
 

smoking, skin diseases due to smoking

Cigarette smoking can lead to genital warts, yeast infection and acne
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1. Yeast infections

Most commonly seen in the vagina, yeast infections cause inflammation, intense itchiness and lead to the flow of a thick, white discharge. In a study by Daling et al, smoking was found to increase the risk of acquiring yeast infections.

2. Genital Warts

Medically known as Condyloma Acuminatum, warts are are small ugly bumps on the skin that can spread throughout the body. Smokers have been found to be 4 times as likely to develop warts in the genital area as non-smokers. This can be a very painful condition.

3. Acne

The nicotine in cigarette has been found to promote inflammation in the skin, leading to acne. It can also prevent the healing of your acne because it reduces blood flow to the area.

smoking skin infections due to smoking

Smoking can lead to annoying acne
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4. Infection through Human Papillomavirus

Nicotine can have a toxic effect of the epithelium, which is the surface of the blood vessels and organs in the body. Thus, it can allow the HP virus to easily enter the body and then show as warts or cancer. Another way smoking leads HPV to enter our body is by weakening our immune system.

Also read: Are e-cigarettes harmful?