Looking older is not completely inevitable.  With proper care, you can avoid wrinkles, age spots and coarse, leathery skin changes.

As you know, skin-ageing changes are the result of the inability of your skin cells to repair itself.   Damage can occur to cell membranes, dermal collagen fibers, melanocytes and DNA.  For example, ultraviolet light damages your skin cell membranes so your skin gets rough and coarse.  It also damages dermal collagen, resulting in a sallow skin tone, inelastic and wrinkled skin, and a cobbled skin texture.  Damage to melanocytes causes abnormal pigment production, or brown age spots.  Damaged DNA, among other things, can cause skin cancer.  

Our cells have many mechanisms to correct different types of cellular damage.  Unfortunately, the mechanisms cannot be 100% effective, and they can be overwhelmed by intense or cumulative damage.  Damaged DNA is particularly problematic, since it is the translation of DNA into normal proteins that both allows other cellular components to be repaired, and allows a normal daughter cell to be produced before the skin cell dies. Ultraviolet damage is like a 1950’s commie plot, causing the system to break down due to attack from within.

Now, broad-spectrum sunscreens absorb a tremendous amount of ultraviolet, assuming you put it on, put it on heavily enough, and replace it often enough throughout the day.  In the best of situations, however, some cellular damage will inevitably occur.  While ultraviolet will directly damage your skin cells, a lot of its damaging effect is mediated by free-radicals.  These are oxidative molecules that steal electrons from other molecules and thus damage the structure that was attacked (like your DNA or those cell membranes).

After considering the various anti-oxidants available, I have chosen Revale for sale at our office.  Revale contains the most potent anti-oxidant available topically, derived from coffee berries.  It neutralizes free radical formation and protects your skin from oxidative damage.  If you use this regularly, with frequent application of a good sunblock, you should age more slowly and look younger when others will look old.

Not as sexy a benefit, but your risk of skin cancer should also be lower.

The day-cream contains a good sunblock, suitable for a day in the office.  The night-cream contains a higher level of coffee berry extract, and the cleanser prepares your skin well for absorption of the products.  It works very well with a Clarisonic cleanser, which increases penetration even more.

When sun damage has already occurred, we have several other product lines for more active rejuvenation.  See our web site for details.

Vitamin D is an important chemical that has been found to do far more then maintain healthy bones.  Dermatologists have used a derivative of Vitamin D, calcipotriene, for decades as a treatment for psoriasis.  It is now known that Vitamin D also prevents several types of internal malignancies, cardiovascular disease and some neurologic diseases.  The controversy has been how to obtain Vitamin D.  Natural sunlight generates Vitamin D in the skin, so some have advocated unprotected sun exposure as a means of increasing Vitamin D levels.   Please, read the following excerpt from the American Academy of Dermatology; it is based on scientific facts, not suppositions.  Bottom line:  get your Vitamin D through a healthy diet and don’t unnecessarily increase your risk of skin cancer. 

The American Academy of Dermatology recommends that an adequate amount of vitamin D 

should be obtained from a healthy diet that includes foods naturally rich in vitamin D, 

foods/beverages fortified with vitamin D, and/or vitamin D supplements; it should not be 

obtained from unprotected exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation.   

 Unprotected UV exposure to the sun or indoor tanning devices is a known risk factor for 

the development of skin cancer.1  Studies have shown that UV radiation from both the 

sun and tanning devices can cause oncogenic mutations in skin cells.2,3  Use of sunbeds 

have also been associated with increased risk for melanoma and squamous cell 

carcinoma.4 

 To minimize the risk of UV-induced skin cancers, a comprehensive photoprotective 

regimen, including the regular use and proper use of a broad-spectrum sunscreen , is 

recommended.5  This is especially important for those with fair skin, as the amount of UV 

exposure required to maximize vitamin D synthesis in the skin is far less than the 

sunburn dose.6,7  

The Academy also recommends that physicians should discuss options for obtaining sufficient 

dietary or supplementary sources of vitamin D with their patients. 

 Many epidemiological studies suggest an association between low serum vitamin D 

levels and increased risk of certain types of cancers, neurologic disease, autoimmune 

disease and cardiovascular disease.8-16  Further research is needed to determine the 

appropriate serum concentration of vitamin D required for overall good health.17 

 The National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine guidelines for vitamin D are a 

standard reference for advising patients on proper minimal intake levels (see Table 

below).18  A higher dose of vitamin D supplementation for individuals with known risk 

factors for vitamin D deficiency (dark skin, elderly, photosensitive patients) should be 

considered.6,19 

It should be noted, however, that the currently recommended adequate intake levels established 

by the Institute of Medicine may be revised upward due to evolving research on the increasing 

clinical benefit of vitamin D.   

Well, as Joe Jackson said in a song, “Everything gives you cancer…”.  A recent study on mice found that their risk of skin cancer went up when they were exposed to both twice-weekly, moderate dose UVB ultraviolet exposure and to several moisturizers.  The presumed culprits were the ingredients sodium lauryl sulfate and mineral oil.  Yikes.  While studies on humans or even other mammals need to be done to test the relevance of this problem, it raises questions.  Clearly manufacturers of moisturizers, and also the cream vehicles used to mix topical medications into, need to prove their products are safe. If moisturizers do cause cancer, this unexpected finding suggests that more ingredients need to be tested for their interaction with ultraviolet light and their possible connection to skin cancer.  More to follow…

Welcome to our new blog.  I look forward to this opportunity to share my thoughts with you, and to receive your comments in return.  Feel free to suggest topics you are interested in.  

Wear sunscreen!

Dr. Brazil