Both men and women tend to develop thinner hair as they age, however smoking can accelerate this process.

Cigarette smoke enters the bloodstream through the lungs and is carried by the circulatory system to every part of the body. The result is that the cells of the smoker’s body are bathed in the more than 4,000 chemicals and gasses found in cigarette smoke. No part of the body is truly exempt from the toxins in cigarettes, and even hair follicles can suffer from damage.

Smoking Damages Your Hair

Experts think the toxic chemicals in smoke can damage the DNA in hair follicles causing them to shrink and wither. Unhealthy follicles simply cannot produce healthy hair, making smokers much more likely to have damaged and thinning hair or go bald.

Smokers Go Gray Quicker

Smoke restricts the blood flow to the follicles, prematurely aging them and causing gray hairs to appear earlier in life than they otherwise would.

Smokeing Can Cause Hair Loss

Cigarettes also increase the amount of the hormone DHT in the body – a hormone known to contribute to hair loss.

Smoker Hair Smells

The odor of cigarette smoke is also easily held by the hair and skin, causing even clean hair to smell like stale smoke - yuk!

News is Worse for Men that Smoke

Men who smoke are about twice as likely to lose their hair as nonsmokers, after taking into account factors that increase the risk of baldness, such as aging and genetics, according to a 2007 study in Taiwan.