What Causes Skin Aging?

Skin aging results in increased roughness, the appearance of new lines or wrinkles, sagging of the skin, irregular pigmentation and a loss of skin elasticity. This occurs when natural antiaging chemicals in the skin are depleted.

Medical scientists suggest there are two basic process that result in aging:

• Genetic programming for the aging process

• Environmental exposure to physical and chemical agents toxic to health:

• Ultraviolet radiation mainly from sunlight
• Cigarette smoking
• Wind exposure
• Exposure to harsh chemicals e.g. detergents

UV irradiation is a major cause of damage and it overwhelms the body’s natural antiaging chemicals, certain vitamins. Excessive sun exposure results in more rapid degeneration, particularly, in sun exposed areas of the body. The exposure to sunlight has an additive damaging effect especially, in the elderly. The more sun exposure you experience the faster aging occurs.

UV radiation causes damage by destroying the underlying skin collagen and structures that maintain elasticity.

Sunlight and other sources of UV radiation create high energy oxygen particles (reactive oxygen species-ROS). These chemicals include superoxides, peroxides and singlet oxygen particles. These reactive oxygen particles damage the DNA of skin cells and types 3 and 4 skin collagen. Destruction of collagen results in wrinkle formation. Collagen acts as reinforcement rods to give the skin tensile strength.

There is a constant attempt by the skin to repair and prevent damage by naturally occurring antiaging agents. The body has natural antioxidants which include Vitamins A, C and E. Squalene and Coezyme Q-10 also are naturally occurring antioxidants, in the skin.

Aging results in fewer available antiaging molecules in the skin. UV irradiation also results in a loss of these antioxidant molecules in the skin.

UV radiation also affects the chemical bonds in DNA. These UV induced DNA changes result in skin cancer, when the skin can no longer repair such damage. The more the exposure to sunlight the lesser is the skin’s ability to repair this DNA damage.

Many OTC skin antiaging products contain these natural skin antioxidants. The effect of these antioxidants present in creams in preventing skin UV damage has been not studied sufficiently to warrant any dramatic claim. Furthermore, the ability of these chemicals to reverse the damage to skin by UV irradiation remains an open question.

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