The amount of vitamin C destroyed per cigarette smoked varies, depending on who you talk to, but general consensus seems to be that one cigarette destroys about 50 mg of vitamin C.
Smoking cigarettes reduces the efficiency with which the skin can regenerate itself � smoking causes the constriction of the blood vessels at the top layers of the skin which in turn reduces blood supply to the skin. It is the reduced blood supply which causes a reduction in the availability of oxygen (which is necessary for all living cells) and the removal of waste products, dead cell fragments etc� which provide the necessary environment for regeneration.
Cigarette smoking causes the blood vessels at the top layers of the skin to constrict and so reducing the oxygen level in the blood there. This thickens the blood and reduces the levels of collagen in the skin (it is actually because of this that smoking is also associated with slow or incomplete healing of wounds).
In fact, smoking a single cigarette can produce cutaneous (pertaining to the skin) vasoconstriction (decrease in the calibre of blood vessels) for up to 90 minutes.
One study suggests that blood flow in the thumb decreases about 24% after smoking one cigarette and by 29% after two cigarettes. Another study suggested that digital (finger) blood flow fell by an average of 42% after smoking one cigarette. A further study found that smoking for 10 minutes decreases tissue oxygen tension for almost an hour and concluded that the typical pack-a-day smoker would remain hypoxic* for most of each day.
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/21/2007
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 114
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,298
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $509.58
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 14 [B]Hrs:[/B] 21 [B]Mins:[/B] 34 [B]Seconds:[/B] 24
