Aging Skin

How skin ages depends on a number of factors. The primary factor that determines the way a person ages is underlying genetics. Other internal influences include diet, lifestyle, drug, and alcohol history. Smoking, a cause of premature aging of the skin, has been directly linked with elevations in matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP_-1), which is a zinc-dependent protease responsible for degradation of dermal collagen [6].Environmental exposures, including weather changes and pollutants, have a direct impact on skin aging,with the most profound degradative changes caused by chronic UV exposure with resultant photoaging.

Chronically aged skin that loses the scaffolding of the dermal structural proteins elastin and collagen in addition to epidermal thinning appears loose and wrinkled. There is atrophy of adnexal structures with a decrease of oil-secreting glands and the skin’s moisture retaining ability, resulting in dryness and scaling.Continued loss of elasticity results in sagging, jowliness, and deep furrows. Photoaging compounds the structural changes by accelerating aging with even more pronounced wrinkling. There are more epidermal changes with pigmentary alterations of mottling and wrinkling than seen in chronologically aged skin alone.

The question of how and why we age has been the subject of much thought and discussion. As we learn more about aging and cell-signaling pathways, the approach to aging evolves. If humans are built with internal repair mechanisms, why do we age with degenerative changes? Many scientists are now starting to view physical aging as a disease process. The cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in aging reveal an intricate series of signals, markers, and pathways, all of which are programmed to monitor and control the lifespan of a cell as it ages. By studying these molecular events and pathways, the field of anti-aging will be furthered by the use of cosmoleculars^TM.