Heavy smoking causes faces to look older
London: Smoker’s Face a condition where smokers look older than they are, is just one of many negative effects caused by heavy tobacco usage, researchers have warned.
“We searched across thousands of traits to identify those that may be affected by how heavily someone smokes. As well as identifying several known adverse effects such as on lung health, we also identified an adverse effect of heavier smoking on facial aging,” said study author Louise Millard from the University of Bristol in UK.
According to the study, published in the journal PLOS Genetics, some people carry one or two copies of a genetic variant that is associated with heavier tobacco use.
To simultaneously identify these two types of effects, the researchers used a novel combination of two data analysis approaches and applied them using data from people in the UK Biobank.
They separated people into two groups. The first contained people who had never smoked, and the second included current and former smokers.
The analysis searched across 18,000 traits and apart from the new finding of more rapid facial aging, also identified several previously reported effects of smoking, confirming the method’s effectiveness.
The known effects of smoking that the analysis identified included worse lung function, and higher risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and skin cancer.
Besides emphasising smoking’s many dangers, the study also serves as proof of principle that these data analysis tools can be used to identify effects of other exposures of interest, such as alcohol intake.
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‘Bulldozer Justice’ is like bulldozing the Constitution: Justice Ujjal Bhuyan
New Delhi: Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan has strongly criticised the practice of demolishing the properties of individuals accused of crimes, equating it to bulldozing the Constitution and undermining the rule of law.
Speaking at the 13th Justice PN Bhagwati International Moot Court Competition on Human Rights at Bharati Vidyapeeth New Law College in Pune, Justice Bhuyan described the trend as "disturbing" and "depressing." He questioned the justification of such actions, often defended as targeting illegal structures, and highlighted their impact on the families of the accused.
"Using a bulldozer to demolish a property is like running a bulldozer over the Constitution. It is a negation of the very concept of the rule of law and, if not checked, would destroy the very edifice of our justice delivery system," he said, as quoted by Bar and Bench.
The practice of ‘bulldozer justice’ gained prominence in Uttar Pradesh under the Yogi Adityanath government in 2017 and has since been adopted in other states. The Supreme Court had previously deemed this approach unacceptable under the rule of law.
Justice Bhuyan emphasised that demolitions impact not just the accused but their families as well. "In that house, his mother stays there, his sister stays there, his wife stays there, his children stay there. What is their fault?" he asked. He further questioned whether it was justifiable to render an accused or even a convicted person homeless through such measures.
On the same day, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, responding to queries about the recent violence in Nagpur, indicated that the government might consider similar measures. "The Maharashtra government has its own style of working… bulldozer will roll when necessary," he said.
Violence erupted in central Nagpur following rumours that a sacred text was burnt during an agitation by a right-wing group demanding the removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.
Justice Bhuyan, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2023 after serving as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, reiterated the importance of upholding due process and warned against actions that undermine constitutional principles.
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