The Truth About Photoaging
What is photoaging? Photoaging is skin damage caused by daily and prolonged exposure to UV radiation.
Effects of photoaging include dark spots, wrinkles, drooping skin, yellowish tint, broken blood vessels and skin cancer.
Of all of the harmful effects of sun exposure, skin cancer is the most deadly with an estimated one million Americans diagnosed each year, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.
What is UV radiation? Ultraviolet radiation from the sun penetrates the earth's atmosphere and damages the skin's cellular DNA.
The U.
S.
Department of Health and Human Services and the World Health Organization have identified UV as a proven human carcinogen.
UVA and UVB rays represent two wavelengths of ultraviolet radiation.
UVA rays account for up to 95 percent of the UV radiation reaching the Earth's surface and have long been known to be a causing agent of skin aging, wrinkles, and skin cancers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that UVA is ultraviolet radiation that triggers early aging of the skin.
UVB rays are the primary agents of sunburns and can likewise cause skin cancer.
The CDC also confirmed while the ozone layer absorbs most of the sun's UVB, even a small amount can create substantial damage.
UVB can cause skin cancer and may contribute to cataracts.
How can photoaging be prevented? Understanding the impact of photoaging is the first step in prevention.
Sunscreen should be worn 365 days a year, even on days that appear cloudy or overcast.
Sun Protection Factor, or SPF, is not the amount of protection sunscreen offers, but it's actually the length of time UV rays will take to penetrate and burn skin with sunscreen versus the length of time to penetrate and burn the skin without sunscreen.
For example, a sunscreen with SPF 45 will take 45 times longer to burn the skin than without SPF.
In addition to sunscreen, individuals should consider wearing hats to protect sensitive skin on the head and to shade the face, and UV-blocking sunglasses to protect the eyes.
What can be done about existing photoaging damage? In a recent study, leading dermatologists found that the antioxidants bisabolol and ectoin, alone and in combination, are able to inhibit the formation of reactive oxygen species generated by hydrogen peroxide in human skin fibroblast cells in-vitro.
Hydrogen peroxide and associated free radicals in human cells initiate a cascade of cellular modifications that have been implicated in carcinogenesis and aging.
Most important is that this combination not only protects the cells from oxidation, but their oxidation stress level was actually lower than that of a health cell at rest.
Anti-photoaging is the only repair treatment against the effects of photoaging.
Anti-photoaging includes topical treatments with antioxidants that protect against free radicals that cause aging of the skin, as well as surgical treatments that physically remove or alter aged skin cells.
The best anti-photoaging treatment is prevention, which includes moisturizing the skin, wearing SPF 45 daily, and avoiding unnecessary UV radiation.
Effects of photoaging include dark spots, wrinkles, drooping skin, yellowish tint, broken blood vessels and skin cancer.
Of all of the harmful effects of sun exposure, skin cancer is the most deadly with an estimated one million Americans diagnosed each year, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.
What is UV radiation? Ultraviolet radiation from the sun penetrates the earth's atmosphere and damages the skin's cellular DNA.
The U.
S.
Department of Health and Human Services and the World Health Organization have identified UV as a proven human carcinogen.
UVA and UVB rays represent two wavelengths of ultraviolet radiation.
UVA rays account for up to 95 percent of the UV radiation reaching the Earth's surface and have long been known to be a causing agent of skin aging, wrinkles, and skin cancers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that UVA is ultraviolet radiation that triggers early aging of the skin.
UVB rays are the primary agents of sunburns and can likewise cause skin cancer.
The CDC also confirmed while the ozone layer absorbs most of the sun's UVB, even a small amount can create substantial damage.
UVB can cause skin cancer and may contribute to cataracts.
How can photoaging be prevented? Understanding the impact of photoaging is the first step in prevention.
Sunscreen should be worn 365 days a year, even on days that appear cloudy or overcast.
Sun Protection Factor, or SPF, is not the amount of protection sunscreen offers, but it's actually the length of time UV rays will take to penetrate and burn skin with sunscreen versus the length of time to penetrate and burn the skin without sunscreen.
For example, a sunscreen with SPF 45 will take 45 times longer to burn the skin than without SPF.
In addition to sunscreen, individuals should consider wearing hats to protect sensitive skin on the head and to shade the face, and UV-blocking sunglasses to protect the eyes.
What can be done about existing photoaging damage? In a recent study, leading dermatologists found that the antioxidants bisabolol and ectoin, alone and in combination, are able to inhibit the formation of reactive oxygen species generated by hydrogen peroxide in human skin fibroblast cells in-vitro.
Hydrogen peroxide and associated free radicals in human cells initiate a cascade of cellular modifications that have been implicated in carcinogenesis and aging.
Most important is that this combination not only protects the cells from oxidation, but their oxidation stress level was actually lower than that of a health cell at rest.
Anti-photoaging is the only repair treatment against the effects of photoaging.
Anti-photoaging includes topical treatments with antioxidants that protect against free radicals that cause aging of the skin, as well as surgical treatments that physically remove or alter aged skin cells.
The best anti-photoaging treatment is prevention, which includes moisturizing the skin, wearing SPF 45 daily, and avoiding unnecessary UV radiation.
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