# Does heroin preserve youthful appearance? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242 "2006-11-13T15:16:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/21 "2006-11-13T21:42:52Z")
[QUOTE=t-bonham@scc.net] Could the original poster be confusing this with the use of **arsenic** by court women in the 1700’s and 1800’s to preserve a youthful appearance? Because I know that was done. I think Cecil even had a column on it. [/QUOTE] No, I heard the same comment on the BBC radio programme this morning. It wasn’t a medical opinion, just a comment during a discussion of rehabilitation that some heroin addicts looked younger than their years. It may have simply been that heroin addicts in their mid twenties still looked like teenagers, due to personal neglect. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/22 "2006-11-13T21:43:58Z")
It’s not impossible that regular opiate use, combined with an otherwise healthy lifestyle, could reduce stress. Stress does have an effect on aging. I imagine that there may also be some immobility of facial expression that might have results similar to Botox. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/23 "2006-11-13T21:52:43Z")
Is there hard evidence for medical professionals who are addicted to opiates over a long period and remaining high-functioning? Anecdotal evidence abounds. ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/24 "2006-11-13T21:54:25Z")
And on digging a bit, the comment was made by Monty Don on the Start the Week programme on 13th November, Radio 4. Anyone can hear it for the rest of this week on BBC Listen Again: [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml](http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml) scroll down to “Start the Week” and click on “Listen”, unfortunately (IMO) Realplayer required. The comment is made in the first couple of minutes, but it is hardly authoritative. The programme is discussing the rehabilitation of addicts by getting them into gardening! ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/25 "2006-11-13T23:46:06Z")
This is just anecdotal, but … Most of the ex-heroin addicts I’ve seen have looked truly scary, with scars and bad teeth and whatnot. These are generally people who lived on the street and did whatever they had to to get whatever low-grade heroin they could, and injected it with whatever crappy needles they could find. Most of them have hepatitis and a good number of them have HIV. Some of the painkiller addicts I’ve seen, who usually got on methadone before going on the street, have looked fairly normal, although perhaps a bit worse for the wear; they usually smoke and drink as well. **However…** The few people I know who don’t drink or smoke, but were painkiller addicts, who got on methadone before Vicodin and other acetaminophen-containing pills damaged their liver (given my area of research, the vast majority of these were Mormons who didn’t mind taking painkillers, but who still believed drinking and smoking and “hard drugs” like heroin or cocaine were moral wrongs) have tended to look young for their age. All this has led me to suspect that opioids by themselves might slow aging down, but it’s just a vague association and not a scientific opinion by any means. It could just be a complete coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/26 "2006-11-14T01:10:36Z")
Anecdotal: I have a friend who used heroin in her youth. She gave it up something like 25 years ago–in her early 30s after using since she was in her teens. She’s still cute but she does not look youthful. She also looks tough. Of course she didn’t just use heroin, she used everything–cocaine, crystal meth, uppers, downers–drank too much, smoked too much (everything). She’s very clean now, drinks tonic water in the bar, but she does have Hep C. BUT–I know another guy, who has used heroin for decades but never very much at a time and (reportedly) not every day. I’ve known him for 30 years, don’t see him very often, but whenever I do see him I note that he has not changed a bit. Fit, lots of hair. He works in the fashion industry (okay, I don’t know what that has to do with it, but it seems to have something to do with it). I suppose he could have declined in the 2½ years since I’ve seen him but the last time I saw him he did look young for his age. These two probably cancel each other out. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/27 "2006-11-14T03:13:01Z")
[QUOTE=mrsface] Does heroin keep you young-looking (provided, that is, you don’t die of its other side-effects first)? I had assumed this was just an old junkie-wives’ tale, but today I heard someone on the usually-sober BBC Today programme refer to heroin’s youth-preserving side effects. Is there any truth in this, and if so, how would it work? I can’t seem to find anything via Google. [/QUOTE] I don’t think so. Every heroin junkie I’ve encountered has looked 20-40 years older than their actual age. ---
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/28 "2006-11-14T03:45:58Z")
[QUOTE=Clothahump] I don’t think so. Every heroin junkie I’ve encountered has looked 20-40 years older than their actual age. [/QUOTE] I used to have a five bag a day habbit and it never made me look old, I think it affects people differtenly. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/29 "2006-11-14T04:06:24Z")
[QUOTE=chorpler] The few people I know who don’t drink or smoke, but were painkiller addicts, who got on methadone before Vicodin and other acetaminophen-containing pills damaged their liver (given my area of research, the vast majority of these were Mormons who didn’t mind taking painkillers, but who still believed drinking and smoking and “hard drugs” like heroin or cocaine were moral wrongs) have tended to look young for their age. . It could just be a complete coincidence. [/QUOTE] No, not a complete coincidence. It’s the smoking, which adds years to your face. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/30 "2006-11-14T04:10:52Z")
[QUOTE=mrsface] Does heroin keep you young-looking (provided, that is, you don’t die of its other side-effects first)? [/QUOTE] [sarcasm]Oh, yes! Herion-chic is just so attractive![/sarcasm] :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/31 "2006-11-14T06:39:43Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] No, not a complete coincidence. It’s the smoking, which adds years to your face. [/QUOTE] Well, yes, I said that the opiate users who did smoke and drink did look older than usual, but the ones who didn’t looked younger than usual. And there were some that looked normal. Oh, and I was also going to say: the people who _really_ looked hideously old for their age, regardless of what else they’d done, were the meth and/or crack users. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/32 "2006-11-14T11:41:37Z")
It seems like having enough money and a comfortable enough lifestyle to be able to afford a heroin habit would in itself be likely to contribute to a youthful appearance. Whoever those folks may be, they certainly aren’t a random sample. It’s kind of like the old joke of wishing you had enough money to buy an elephant. Not that you want an elephant, but it would be nice to have that much money. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/33 "2006-11-14T12:02:07Z")
[QUOTE=Harriet the Spry] It seems like having enough money and a comfortable enough lifestyle to be able to afford a heroin habit would in itself be likely to contribute to a youthful appearance. Whoever those folks may be, they certainly aren’t a random sample. It’s kind of like the old joke of wishing you had enough money to buy an elephant. Not that you want an elephant, but it would be nice to have that much money. [/QUOTE] That might be true – somebody rich enough to afford heroin could probably afford plastic surgery, for instance. But most people on a methadone program aren’t anything like rich. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/34 "2006-11-14T16:14:54Z")
You are going about this all wrong. Heroin preserves your youthful appearance when used externally. It both moisturizes and exfoliates. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/35 "2006-11-14T16:20:15Z")
[QUOTE=gazpacho] You are going about this all wrong. Heroin preserves your youthful appearance when used externally. It both moisturizes and exfoliates. [/QUOTE] **No** , it doesn’t. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![RondaH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f08c70/32.png) [@RondaH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RondaH)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/36 "2013-01-01T05:36:44Z")
I may not be a doctor but i have been an addict for 6 years now, since i was 18 and i still get asked if im even over 19. Mind you, i also dont smoke, drink, or use any other drugs. Theres also the other factor of how that person is using it, there are pros and cons to each method. Number one cause of aging is stress, being an addict can be stressful, so yes I think that if you use the combination of factors as to not smoke,drink,.or do other drugs…especially meth, inject it (safely of course), and be able to live a life stress free of the usual addicts life. Yes, i have met a few people that fit this exact description. People who have used all their adult lives, big habbits, and look younger than they are. Ive only been using 6 years but i also have a large habbit, but i am healthy, live a stress free life, and havent changed one bit since I turned 18 ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/37 "2013-01-01T06:11:11Z")
This is the most obscene lie I’ve heard in years - Hey, kids - want to look young forever? For god’s sake - there are a series of shots of the 17 yr. old from Port Arthur. Including a heart-touching nude of a very scared and vulnerable chubby young woman. See if you can find them Compare to later pics. Ladies - her’s one effect to scare you off - they deflate your boobs - Janis started with nice full pear-shaped. Again. see later I am too depressed to look up the name of the album with the profile shot in transparent clothes - she couldn’t have weighed even 100 pounds bu that time. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/38 "2013-01-01T07:37:25Z")
> [@RondaH](#): > > I may not be a doctor but i have been an addict for 6 years now, since i was 18 and i still get asked if im even over 19. Mind you, i also dont smoke, drink, or use any other drugs. Theres also the other factor of how that person is using it, there are pros and cons to each method. Number one cause of aging is stress, being an addict can be stressful, so yes I think that if you use the combination of factors as to not smoke,drink,.or do other drugs…especially meth, inject it (safely of course), and be able to live a life stress free of the usual addicts life. Yes, i have met a few people that fit this exact description. People who have used all their adult lives, big habbits, and look younger than they are. Ive only been using 6 years but i also have a large habbit, but i am healthy, live a stress free life, and havent changed one bit since I turned 18 You sound like you’ve got your head on straight. Oh wait. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/39 "2013-01-01T07:53:46Z")
I osed to be a drug and alcohol counsellor and can confirm that addiction to heroin will preserve your youth. You can spend 10 years as a smack addict and still have the same emotional, spiritual and intellectual growth stunted to what you had as a 15 year-old when you started on the shit. Physically you won’t make out as well. Assuming that you don’t die (it makes you look dead). you will risk infection of the heart lining and valves, liver disease (hepatitis C), kidney disease, pulmonary complications, skin infections and abscesses, and scarred or collapsed veins. You also have an increased risk of catching human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other blood-borne viruses. But you’ll come across as a really diseased teenager. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242/40 "2013-01-01T08:13:15Z")
My heroin-addicted cousin isn’t just a shithead, he looks like one too. Chronologically, he’s ten years younger than me. By appearance, he’s ten year older. Nice teeth ya have there, gramps. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-heroin-preserve-youthful-appearance/380242.md?page=3)