Tag Archives: aging

How to reduce premature skin aging?

Introduction

Looking good is a huge topic for people, especially  for women and skin-aging is a main factor of looking good. To maintain or enhance the external appearance, cosmetics are used frequently. In Canada, there were 3,100 cosmetics and beauty supplies store in 2016. The value of Canada cosmetic market is expected to reach around 15.8 million U.S dollars in 2021. However, have you ever wondered if your skin care products actually work to help your avoid wrinkles and get better skin. The answer for this question is no. Most of your skin care products which advertised themselves as anti-aging products do not help you preventing wrinkles.

Image result for skin care product

Figure 1: Skin Care Product

If you are looking for methods to reduce skin aging, there are only two things that will help anti-aging, which are sunscreen and retinol. For detailed information, check What causes our skin to age?. The video truth about looking good can also provide further information.

Source: BBC

Sunscreen

The appearance of wrinkle should mostly blame on the sunlight. Fibrillin, the protein that support the outside of our skin, will get hurt for exposure in sunshine.  The only product can help to prevent aging skin is sunscreen. A good sunscreen should have enough SPF to avoid UVB which may cause skin burning and 5-star rating to prevent UVA which will directly result in skin-aging. Other than choosing a good sunscreen, the most important thing is using sunscreen everyday whatever the whether is and the season is.

Figure 2: Common sunscreens in market

Vitamin A

The sunscreen can only prevent the generation of wrinkles, it can’t remove the existing wrinkles. It’s common known that some anti-aging treatment like botox can help to remove existing wrinkles. However, some of us are not prepared to accept treatment involved needles. If you are one of them, then the only thing can help is retinol. Tretinoin, a prescription-strength product, can markably reduce wrinkles in short term. The strong side effect of tretinoin including redness, irritation and burning feel may discourage consumers to use it. But, if people are willing to fine lines without injection, the only thing left is retinol product, as known as Vitamin A. To avoid maladjustment of strong product, consumers can start with product containing only 0.1% of retinol and increase the content little by little.

Conclusion

As the article claimed, if you are willing use products to anti-aging, the best choice is sunscreen. There is no other product will help, so don’t believe the advertisement. To fine lines and wrinkles, you can choose to professional skin care clinical to accept treatment and ask for tretinoin. Besides, you can try retinol which also works without strong irritation.

What are Telomeres?

Telomeres are like the plastic tips at the end of the shoelaces; they are the caps at the end of each strand of DNA and they protect our DNA from becoming damaged.

Telomeres were first distinguished in 1933 by Dr. Barbara McClintock. Recent research lead Dr. Carol Greider, and Dr. Jack Szostak to be awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by the enzyme telomerase and telomeres.

Diagram of Chromosome Showing Telomeres in Green Credit: Beauty Black Book

Telomeres Shorten as We Age

Each cell in our bodies replicates DNA and divides. DNA polymerase is the enzyme in charge of DNA replication, but it is incapable of replicating the entire chromosome strand.  Telomeres serve as a “scape goat” of dispensable DNA not needed for vital functions, so when DNA polymerase is ready to fall off the chromosome some of this dispensable DNA is lost.

How Much Telomeres Do We Lose in a Lifetime?

To put it in perspective, we are born with about 11 kb of telomeres, that’s 11,000 base pairs of DNA. By old age, we have approximately 4 kb or 4,000 base pairs.

This significant decrease in telomeres suggests that each cell has a maximum number of cell divisions before it must induce its own cell death. Dr. Leonard Hayflick extensively studied this phenomenon and concluded that each cell can only divide up to 60 times. The maximum number of cell divisions is now known as The Hayflick Limit.

Diagram Showing Decrease of Telomere Length with Age Credit: Defytime

Promising Study on Progeria Cells

Scientist are in hot pursuit to find the fountain of youth. Dr. John Cook and his team conducted an experiment with promising results and with the intentions of helping children with progeria, a rare genetic condition which speeds up aging.

In the study, the participants, aged 1 to 14 years-old, had telomeres lengths of a 69-year-old. Telomeres length was significantly increased in progeria cells as measured by expression of telomerase.

Video on Study on Progeria Cells by Dr. John Cook Credit:  Vimeo

Although this study is very promising, other scientists believe delaying the natural decline of telomere length could be harmful. Dr. Peter Lansdorp from the University of British Columbia explains that telomere shortening is a defense mechanism built within our cells to decrease the chances of developing cancers. Shortening telomere length of cancerous cells causes them to die. Halting this mechanism would allow cancer cells to continue to divide to create tumors.

What Speeds Up and Slows Down Aging?

Studies have shown that following a healthy diet, regular exercise, managing stress, and increase sleep is associated with longer telomeres, whereas higher body mass index, high stress, and smoking are associated with shorter telomeres.

Table of Factors that Affect Telomere Length Credit:  Indian Journal of Medical Research

https://soundcloud.com/sciencetoday/telomere

Podcast on Telomeres as Marker of Aging Credit: US Science Today SOUNDCLOUD

Stress Less Live longer!

Studies suggest that any type of stress will have an effect on your telomeres and will in turn speed-up the aging process. It also shows that taking good care of yourself will  delay the aging process. So next time you feel stressed out, take a second to breath. Your biological clock will thank you.

Video of The Science of Aging Credit: ASAP Science YouTube

Maria-Fernanda Arcila