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.

A new meta-analysis published in the journal Stroke reports that GLP-1 receptor agonists such as semaglutide may help reduce the risk of ischemic stroke in patients who do not have diabetes. The findings come from a review of preclinical studies and highlight the growing interest in how these widely used drugs may offer benefits beyond blood sugar control.

What GLP-1 Drugs Are and How They Work

GLP-1 receptor agonists are a class of medications that mimic a natural hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1. This hormone helps regulate appetite, insulin release and blood sugar levels. Drugs in this category include semaglutide, liraglutide, exenatide, lixisenatide and dulaglutide. Semaglutide is sold under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic.

These medicines were originally developed for people with type 2 diabetes. Over time, scientists observed additional effects such as reduced appetite, improved metabolic markers and modest cardiovascular protection. This led to their approval for weight management in people without diabetes. Today, GLP-1 drugs are among the most prescribed medications for obesity and are being studied for heart failure, kidney disease and other conditions. However, their potential benefits in non-diabetic patients at risk of stroke remain largely unexplored.

What the New Review Examined

Researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark conducted the meta-analysis to understand whether GLP-1 drugs could reduce the severity or likelihood of acute ischemic stroke in people who do not have diabetes. The team examined 31 preclinical trials conducted between 2011 and 2024. All studies were carried out in rodent models.

The included drugs were given either orally or through subcutaneous injections. The researchers compared animals receiving GLP-1 drugs with those given a placebo. They reviewed outcomes such as infarct volume, neurological recovery and markers of cell injury.

Findings Show Promising Neuroprotective Effects

Across the studies, animals treated with GLP-1 drugs showed significantly smaller infarct volumes than those given a placebo. They also demonstrated better neurological function after stroke.

Lead author Michael K. Michaelsen from the department of clinical medicine at Aarhus University wrote that the mechanisms behind these benefits are not yet clear. He noted that the effects appear to extend beyond blood sugar regulation. According to the paper, GLP-1 drugs may act on multiple pathways involved in stroke injury including inflammation, oxidative stress and cell death. The authors observed reductions in oxidative stress markers, inflammatory mediators and indicators of cell death in several trials. However, they cautioned that these findings do not prove causality.

Human Impact Still Unknown

Since all the analyzed studies were in animals, experts say it is too early to conclude whether GLP-1 receptor agonists could improve stroke outcomes in non-diabetic patients. Clinical trials will be needed to confirm whether the neuroprotective effects translate to humans.

The authors noted that if future research shows that these drugs do not affect platelet function or clotting during the acute phase of stroke, they could one day be used even before patients undergo neuroimaging. They wrote that early prehospital administration could potentially offer faster protection during the critical first moments of stroke.

For most people, grief arrives slowly. For survivors of suicide loss, it crashes in without warning and never quite leaves the room. Around the world, millions of people carry this quiet, complicated grief. This one is laced not only with heartbreak, but often with unanswered questions, guilt, shock, and the haunting feeling that maybe something, anything, could have been different.

International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day is more than a remembrance; it is a reminder that those left behind are still learning how to live with an absence that reshaped everything. For Harry Corin, *Amitava Kumar, writer Arianna Rebolini, and *Aastha Ganguli that reshaping began the moment they learned their loved one had chosen to leave the world.

Their stories are different, their cultures and circumstances varied, but their grief echoes the same truth: suicide does not end a life alone. It alters the lives of everyone who loved them.

“I spent a decade hiding the truth”

Harry Corin, who was raised in St Ives, a small town in England was only 12 when his father died by suicide. At an age when children are learning how the world works, Harry was suddenly thrown into a reality too heavy for words.

For more than a decade, through school, university, and his first jobs—he kept the truth locked inside.

It was fear that speaking about suicide would make people uncomfortable, fear that it would expose the overwhelming pain he had never processed. But the first time he spoke about it openly, something shifted.

He realized how powerful honest conversation could be, and how desperately men needed safer spaces to have them.

Now a mental health speaker and founder of a global workplace wellbeing company, Harry’s life mission is rooted in preventing others from reaching the point his father did. He believes suicide prevention begins long before a crisis, through environments where vulnerability is accepted, emotions are not dismissed, and support is offered without hesitation.

But his journey has also been shaped by the way he experiences the world. Diagnosed with ADHD in his late 20s, he finally had a lens that explained years of inner restlessness. This understanding didn’t erase the pain—but it helped him reclaim a narrative he had once buried.

Also Read: International Day for Survivors of Suicide Loss: History And Its Relevance Today

Losing the heart of his family

In Kolkata, many families live close, emotionally, financially, historically. This was true for *Amitava Kumar, whose beloved uncle, affectionately called 'Choto Kaka', was the youngest of seven brothers.

Amitava remembers him as charming, generous, and deeply loved by nieces and nephews. He had a thriving business and carried much of the joint family’s financial responsibilities after Amitava’s father moved to Delhi. He handled his grandparents’ medical expenses, supported siblings, and was the emotional anchor of the household.

But behind that warmth was a man whose emotional vulnerability was often exploited by friends. His generosity made him an easy target for those who took advantage of his kindness and financial success.

At home, tensions began to grow. Arguments escalated. Pressure mounted. He began drifting away from the family that adored him.

Then came the debts: quiet, creeping, and devastating.

“One day,” Amitava says, “we were dumbstruck to hear that our beloved Choto Kaka had taken his life.”

It was February 1995 when Amitava was 28, and it was the last he saw him—just a few months before his own wedding, which was to be held in May in the same year. His uncle had blessed the photo of his bride and promised to meet her soon.

The family marked his memory with a stone inscription at Brahma Mandir in Pushkar, a way of leaving his soul at the feet of the divine. Yet the void he left remains unfillable.

“Grief becomes complicated when distance exists”

For New York-based writer Arianna Rebolini, grief came from a different angle, not in the heart of a close-knit family, but through a friendship that had drifted apart.

At 28, she learned that her once-inseparable college friend, Alice, had died by suicide. It was a loss wrapped in guilt. They had bonded deeply in their youth, often over their shared struggles with mental health. But adulthood had separated them—new cities, new routines, and the quiet fading that happens between even the closest friends.

“There’s a shame in realizing you weren’t there,” she says. “I wasn’t in a position to know that she needed help.”

Arianna carried the dual weight of grief and self-blame. She dreamt about Alice for years. She combed through old messages. She found a Facebook text from Alice, sent two months before her death, that she had never responded to.

“It still hurts,” she admits.

To heal, Arianna confronted the details of Alice’s final months, refusing to shy away from them, a path many survivors fear but some desperately need. As she immersed herself in Alice’s poetry and art, she found connection, closure, and eventually clarity.

Through years of writing and research, her understanding of suicide transformed. She even wrote a gutsy, riveting memoir that explores suicides, named Better: A Memory About Wanting to Die.

“When Love Is Lost Too Soon”

One of Aastha’s fondest memories is how Gauri taught her to see the world differently. “She always had another perspective,” she recalls. “I was taught to look at things one way, but she showed me there were multiple ways to understand the same moment.” Gauri listened deeply, helped people find clarity, and reminded those around her that judgment should never be the first instinct, a lesson Aastha carries with her even now.

But healing, she says, has been “up and down, not linear at all.” Three years on, the grief still lives in her bones. Music helps. Talking about Gauri helps. Sharing her story keeps her close. What hurts most is when people assume there should be a deadline for mourning. “People told me, ‘It’s been two or three years, you should move on.’ But I never will. She’ll always be a part of me.”

Aastha has also seen how people oversimplify suicide. “They think there’s one reason someone does it. But it’s never one thing, it’s a culmination of small things.” What pains her deeply is when people say someone “wasn’t strong enough.” To her, it reduces a full, complex human being to their final moment. “She was so much more than what happened in the end. It’s not about strength or weakness.”

Like many survivors, she carried guilt, wondering whether she could have done more or helped in a different way. With time, she learned that loving someone doesn’t mean you can always save them. That understanding has shaped how she supports others now. She no longer pushes people to open up; she waits, gives space, and allows them to come to her. “Helping someone isn’t one-size-fits-all. Some people need words. Some need silence. Some just need presence.”

She hopes communities learn to stop minimizing struggles and stop forcing their own solutions onto someone else’s pain. “If a person says they’re struggling, don’t judge them through your lens. Find what they need, not what you needed.”

To anyone grieving a suicide loss, her message is gentle but firm: “Don’t be afraid to say how they died. When we hide it, we create shame, and that silence can hurt others who might be feeling the same way.” Above all, she urges kindness, especially toward those who might be reaching out in unclear or complicated ways. “Even if someone says it for attention, it’s better to talk to them than dismiss them.”

Gauri had always been an advocate for mental and emotional wellbeing, and she taught Aastha how to find peace within herself. Today, Aastha tries to carry that forward. “The only thing that has changed,” she says softly, “is that now I want to spread the same message she gave me, so others can find their safe space too.”

The Invisible Weight Survivors Carry

The stories of Harry, Amitava, Arianna, Aastha reveal what most people don’t see:

Survivors of suicide loss often live with:

• guilt, even when it’s undeserved
• unanswered questions that never resolve
• shame imposed by societal silence
• the ache of unfinished conversations
• anger, confusion, love, and longing, all at once

Their grief is not linear. It’s a spiral. Some days are survivable. Others reopen wounds that never fully healed.

Note: Names have been changed to protect identities.

Note: Information about Harry Corin has been taken from his publicly available website, harrycorin.in, and is used with consent.

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 720 000 people die due to suicide every year. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds.

November 22 is observed as the International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day, which brings attention to a form of grief, which is not always talked about. Neuroscience now provides more clarity on how different the experience of losing someone close is. This experience is not just gone for once, but instead as recurring waves of pain, intrusive questions, and long-lasting emotional "aftershocks".

Suicide loss comes in many layers of shocks, guilty, and often confusion. The brain not only processes the loss, but also a rupture. There are many forms of grief, including cognitive, emotional, and sometimes biological, if it is a lost family member, like a daughter, son, sister, or a very close family member.

The amygdala is responsible for detecting fear and danger. After a suicide loss, it can stay hyperactive for months or even years.

Sudden reminders, unanswered questions, anniversaries, or simple triggers—like a song, photo, or notification, can instantly activate the brain’s stress response. Experts suggest since suicide is an unexpected and traumatic incident, the amygdala keeps replaying the alert and thus the survivors could often feel frozen in the moment when they receive the news.

The Thoughts That Loop Relentlessly

The hippocampus helps form memories and gives context to events. After a suicide loss, the brain tries to create meaning around something that often has no clear explanation. This leads to persistent mental looping:

• Could I have stopped it?
• Why didn’t I catch the signs?
• What were they thinking or feeling?

These are not just emotional spirals—they are the hippocampus working overtime, trying to rebuild a narrative that makes sense, even when the event itself defies understanding.

What Is The History Of International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day?

The day was created in 1999, following a US Senate resolution that was introduced by Senator Harry Reid, who lost his father to suicide. The day was officially designated by the United States Congress as a time for those affected by suicide loss to come together for healing and support.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois has also planned multiple free, in-person gatherings for people who have lost someone to suicide. Angela Cummings, who is the executive director of the foundation says, "Grief after suicide is unique, and so is the strength it takes to keep going," as reported by My Journal Corner.

"Survivor Day helps people find understanding and connection through shared experience. It reminds us that even in the midst of loss, hope and healing are possible."

Every year, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention sponsors International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day, a program that unites survivors of suicide loss across the world. These events help survivors cope with the tragedy of losing someone to suicide.

Help for suicidal thoughts

• UK: NHS UK Helpline No. 111, works 24 hours every day
• US: Suicide & Crisis Lifeline No. 988, nation wide phone number
• India: iCall: Helpline Np. 9152987821