Environmental Toxins

Why passive smoking hinders healing

Published in Health and Medicine Week, April 19th, 2004

Being exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke can reduce the speed at which wounds heal, leading to a lack of healing or greater levels of scarring.

A study published in the journal BMC Cell Biology may begin to explain why: when cells are exposed to smoke, their ability to migrate toward the site of damage is compromised.

The study, carried out by researchers from University of California, Riverside, examined the effects of 'second-hand' smoke on fibroblasts, cells that play a major role in wound healing. They found that, among other things, exposure to smoke altered the arrangement of the cells' cytoskeleton - increasing the cells'...

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Source: Health and Medicine Week (2004-04-19)

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