Does cigarette smoking mitigate the severity of skin disease in systemic sclerosis?

Cigarette smoking has significant negative effects on vascular, pulmonary and gastrointestinal outcomes in systemic sclerosis (SSc). The objective of this study was to study the effect of cigarette smoking on the extent of skin disease in SSc. Subjects were patients enrolled in the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group cohort. Smoking history was obtained by patient self-reports. The extent of skin involvement was measured using the modified …