The skin damage caused by smoking may be written all over smokers' faces, but researchers say that smoking affects skin all over the body, Reuters reported March 19.

Evidence of smoking damage to skin is most visible on the face, but wrinkling and yellowing affects skin elsewhere, too. "We examined non-facial skin that was protected from the sun, and found that the total number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day and the total years a person has smoked were linked with the amount of skin damage a person experienced," said lead researcher Yolanda Helfrich of the University of Michigan. "In participants older than 65 years, smokers had significantly more fine wrinkling than nonsmokers. Similar findings were seen in participants aged 45 to 65 years."

The research appears in the March 2007 issue of the Archives of Dermatology.