When something is going wrong in your body, there will be signs. They may be subtle, but they are visible in close observation. If you are a smoker, you may be worried about the smell of smoke emanating from your mouth or clothes. However, there are other signs that tell whether you smoke or not and these signs are difficult to get rid of!

Smoking is the harmful act of inhaling tobacco infused smoke and is a common activity all over the world. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 480,000 deaths happen each year due to smoking or smoke inhalation. The organization explained that smoking causes harm to nearly all organs and quitting lowers the risk of early death and other smoking related diseases.

Like many other substances, there are clear tell-tale signs when someone is smoking. This is especially important for finding lung problems like Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is a lung disease that makes it hard to breathe, sooner so people can get help.

Why Does Smoking Affect Your Physical Appearance?

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) explains that tobacco smoke has more than 7,000 harmful chemicals like nicotine, carbon monoxide, and various metals like arsenic, cadmium, and lead, quickly reach your lungs and then travel through your blood to all your organs, including your skin. Smoking damages your skin's ability to heal because it increases an enzyme metalloproteinase (MMPs) that breaks down collagen. Collagen is what keeps your skin smooth and elastic. As you lose collagen, your skin sags. Squinting from the smoke and puckering your mouth when smoking also cause wrinkles around your eyes and mouth.

Smoking also reduces blood flow to your skin, which means it gets less oxygen and nutrients. All these things together lead to what doctors call a "smoker's face." Quitting smoking can help prevent or slow down these skin problems."

Visible Signs Of Smoking

Here are some visible signs of smoking in people, according to 2013, Lung India

Fingers and Nails

When people smoke, the tar and other chemicals in the smoke stick to their fingers and nails. This repeated contact causes a yellow stain that's hard to wash off. It's a very common sign that someone regularly handles cigarettes or biris.

Moustaches

Especially in older people with white moustaches, smoking causes a yellowing effect. This is most noticeable in the center of the moustache, where the smoke from the nose directly hits the hair. The consistent exposure to smoke colors the hair over time.

Lips

Heavy smokers often have a bluish-black tint to their lips. This discoloration happens because the chemicals in tobacco smoke affect the blood flow and the color of the skin on the lips. The constant exposure changes the lip's natural color.

Teeth

Smoking causes teeth to stain both inside and out. The outside of the teeth turns yellow from the tar, while the inside develops a brownish-black stain. This happens because the smoke seeps into the enamel and discolors the teeth over time.

Premature Wrinkling

Smoking makes the skin age faster. This leads to wrinkles like "crow's feet" around the eyes and "cobblestone wrinkles" on the neck. This happens because smoking reduces blood flow, limiting oxygen to the skin, and damages collagen, which keeps skin elastic.

Nodular Elastosis

This condition, also known as "Favre–Racouchot syndrome," causes blackheads and wrinkles, especially around the eyes and temples. It is made worse by both sun exposure and heavy smoking. The skin becomes discolored with visible nodules and wrinkles.

Facial Wrinkling and COPD

A study published in Thorax 2006 found a connection between wrinkles on the face and COPD, a lung disease. It's thought that smoking affects both the skin and lungs through similar processes. If doctors notice signs like "crow's feet" on a smoker's face, they might recommend tests for COPD. This early detection can help people get treatment sooner and improve their lung health.

Researchers from University College London (UCL) have found that quitting smoking may help slow age-related memory decline and protect brain health as we age. According to new research, people who quit smoking in middle age can significantly slow their cognitive decline, so much so that within a decade, their risk of developing dementia becomes nearly identical to those who have never smoked. The study adds to growing evidence that giving up cigarettes can protect brain health and delay age-related mental decline.

This One Step Can Lower Your Dementia Risk, Doctors Say

Published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, the study examined data from more than 9,400 adults aged 40 and older across 12 countries. The findings strengthen existing evidence that giving up cigarettes could reduce the risk of dementia, though experts note that further research is needed to understand the full impact of smoking cessation on cognitive health.

Researchers noted that while the link between smoking and poor cognitive health is well known, the long-term effects of quitting have been less certain. In this study, memory and verbal fluency tests showed that people who stopped smoking experienced a slower rate of decline in the six years following cessation.

Experts said the findings are especially important because middle-aged and older adults are often less inclined to quit, despite facing greater health risks. Demonstrating that quitting can also help preserve brain function, they added, could serve as a strong new reason for this group to give up smoking.

Data shows that smoking is most common among adults aged 25 to 34, with about 14 percent identifying as smokers, while only 8.2 percent of those over 65 reported smoking. Responding to the UCL study, Dr. Julia Dudley, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said smoking is tied to several major health risks, including cancer, heart disease, and dementia—particularly Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia. She emphasized that quitting can greatly lower the likelihood of developing these conditions.

What Is Dementia?

Dementia is an umbrella term for a group of symptoms that affect a person's ability to think, remember, and reason to the point that it interferes with daily life. It is not a normal part of aging, but is caused by damage to brain cells, which can result from conditions like Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, or Lewy body dementias. Symptoms include memory loss, confusion, difficulty with language and problem-solving, and changes in mood or behavior, and the condition worsens over time.

What Causes Dementia?

Dementia develops when diseases damage brain cells, disrupting how they communicate with one another. This breakdown in communication affects memory, thinking, behavior, and emotions. The brain is made up of different regions, each responsible for specific functions such as judgment, movement, and memory. When cells in a certain area are harmed, that part of the brain can no longer perform normally.

Each type of dementia is linked to damage in particular brain regions. In Alzheimer’s disease, for instance, an abnormal buildup of proteins inside and around brain cells prevents them from staying healthy and transmitting signals effectively. The hippocampus, responsible for learning and memory, is usually the first area affected, which is why memory loss tends to be one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s.

It has been five years since COVID first appeared, and over this period, case numbers have both surged and declined. Suruchi Sood, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, notes that some delays in COVID tracking by the Centers for Disease Control are partly due to the government shutdown. Based on the available data and her own clinical observations, she says, “We don’t seem to be seeing, thankfully, yet, an uptick of COVID.” However, she points out that another respiratory illness is currently gaining ground in the country.

Not Covid, But This Disease Is Spreading

Although COVID-19 cases are declining, many people are still experiencing congestion and sore throats. Dr. Steven Gordon, chairman of the Department of Infectious Disease at the Cleveland Clinic, noted that recent lab data from Northeast Ohio show SARS-CoV-2 activity continuing to fall from its summer peak, with last week’s COVID positivity rate at 5%.

At the same time, infections caused by rhinovirus, the common cold virus, and other enteroviruses have been rising, with a 20% positivity rate. While these numbers are specific to Northeast Ohio, they reflect broader trends reported by the CDC, which show increasing rhinovirus and enterovirus cases as of late September.

What Is Rhinovirus?

Rhinovirus is a widespread virus and the leading cause of the common cold, though it can also trigger other respiratory conditions such as asthma flare-ups, bronchitis, and pneumonia. It spreads through respiratory droplets, direct contact, or contaminated surfaces. While it usually affects the upper respiratory tract, it can sometimes cause infections in the lower respiratory system.

How Does Rhinovirus Spread?

Rhinovirus spreads in several ways, according to the CDC. It can be transmitted through respiratory droplets released when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks. The virus can also pass through direct person-to-person contact. In addition, rhinovirus can survive on surfaces such as doorknobs, phones, or other objects for several days, allowing it to spread when someone touches these contaminated surfaces.

How To Stay Safe From Rhinovirus?

As we approach the virus season, it’s important to take steps to protect your health, experts say. Dr. Steven Gordon emphasizes that prevention is better than treatment, recommending the flu shot for anyone older than six months as the most effective protection against influenza. Similarly, getting the COVID-19 vaccine remains the best way to reduce the risk of severe illness and hospitalization.

“With COVID and flu vaccines available, now is an ideal time to get vaccinated, as it takes several weeks for immunity to build,” said Dr. Suruchi Sood. Both vaccines can be administered at the same time and are widely available at pharmacies. It’s advisable to check with your doctor or local pharmacy about COVID shot eligibility in your area.

Maintaining overall health through regular exercise and a nutritious diet can also help defend against respiratory viruses, while frequent handwashing remains a simple but effective preventive measure. COVID vaccination continues to be a safe and effective way to lessen the severity of illness, with recent studies in the VA Health System showing that it reduced hospitalizations, deaths, and emergency visits even in the past season, Dr. Sood added.

A recently published study has drawn attention to a new and rather unexpected side effect linked to popular weight-loss medications.

Drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, originally developed for type 2 diabetes but now widely used for weight management, have seen a sharp rise in demand. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey released in May 2024 found that roughly one in eight American adults has used a GLP-1 drug.

However, as their use becomes more widespread, doctors are identifying additional side effects, one of which may complicate the results of certain medical scans.

Ozempic And Wegovy Users Are Reporting A Growing ‘Unusual’ Side Effect

Researchers at Alliance Medical, a European imaging services company, examined PET-CT scans of cancer patients who were using GLP-1 medications. In this type of scan, a patient is given an intravenous injection of a radioactive sugar compound called fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). Because diseased cells consume more of the substance than healthy ones, the PET scanner highlights these areas as “hot spots,” as described by the Cleveland Clinic.

Often, PET and CT scans are done together, the CT providing X-ray–based images that, when combined with PET data, give doctors a detailed 3D view of the body.

According to findings presented in September at the Annual Congress of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine, Alliance Medical researchers observed several abnormal FDG uptake patterns among patients using GLP-1 drugs. These irregularities could easily be mistaken for signs of disease if physicians are unaware of the patient’s medication use.

“We first saw an unexpected uptake pattern in one patient taking a GLP-1 agonist, which led us to conduct a broader review across our centers,” said Dr. Peter Strouhal, Medical Director at Alliance Medical, in a statement shared by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

If these scans are read incorrectly, patients could face unnecessary diagnostic procedures, inaccurate cancer staging, and potential delays in receiving the right treatment.

Other Side Effects Of Weight Loss Drugs

Many people who use GLP-1 medications experience digestive discomfort such as nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, or heartburn. The drugs are also known to carry risks like gallbladder disease, bone fractures, and, in some cases, pancreatitis.

Recently, however, new physical changes popularly referred to as “Ozempic vulva” and “Ozempic breasts” have begun drawing attention. Across social media, women have described noticeable changes since starting these injections, including sagging skin, vaginal dryness, weakened pelvic muscles, and occasionally an increase in discharge.

Though vaginal changes are not listed among the official side effects of GLP-1 drugs, specialists believe they may be connected to the rapid fat loss these medications cause. As body fat decreases, the natural fat pads that cushion and support vulvar tissue can diminish, leading to visible and functional changes.

“Ozempic breasts” is a term used to describe changes in breast size or shape that occur after significant weight loss from GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy. Many women report reduced volume, increased sagging, and, in some cases, tenderness as their body fat percentage drops.