Skin Anatomy: How Your Skin Protects You

Anti-Aging Skin Care Series, Part 1

Your skin is the largest organ of your body, and your skin’s anatomy reveals a lot of information about you to the rest of the world.

Here are just a few examples of what skin anatomy reveals about you:

• Your skin’s color and texture are inherited through genetics, and that provides information about your family history.
• After vigorous exercise, you have a unique scent that is created by your particular combination of skin secretions from your sebaceous and sweat glands. Even the amount of perspiration can differ from one person to another.
• Whether you tan or burn during sun exposure is controlled by the amount of melanin you inherited.

Your Best Protector
Describing someone as having “thin skin” is not far from the truth.

While the actual thickness of skin varies throughout the body, the thinnest skin (approximately 0.5mm) is found on the eyelids, and the thickest skin (approximately 4mm) is on the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet.

Despite this lack of density, your skin protects your body in remarkable ways:

• Skin protects body tissues and organs against injuries.
• The nerves in your skin receive the stimuli that tell your brain when your skin has been touched.
• The nerves in your skin also help your brain respond to sensations of hot and cold.
• Your skin helps to regulate your body’s temperature by making your pores smaller when it’s cold, and making pores larger when it’s hot.
• Your skin is the “armor” that helps to protect your immune system from bacteria and disease.
• Skin keeps your essential body fluids (blood, water and lymph) from evaporating.
• Your skin protects you from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. The amount of sun protection you have depends on the amount of melanin you inherited.

Skin Anatomy
Your skin anatomy is composed of three layers, the epidermis, the dermis, and subcutaneous fat.

Epidermis: This is the top layer of skin, and it is somewhat translucent, so light can partially pass through it. There are no blood vessels in the epidermis, so this top layer gets it’s nutrients and oxygen from the deeper layers. The epidermis is attached to the next layer, the dermis, via a membrane.

Dermis: This is the second, deeper layer of your skin. The dermis is where your hair roots and sweat glands reside, and the dermis also contains with some blood vessels and nerves.

Subcutaneous fat: This is the bottom or lowest layer of your skin, and this is where your larger blood vessels and nerves reside. The subcutaneous fat layer is composed of fat-filled cells call adipose cells, and the depth of the subcutaneous fat layer is different from one person to another.

Subcutaneous fat is attached to your bones and muscles by connective tissue which is loose, allowing skin to move. If you have too much subcutaneous fat, the connection points of your connective tissue become more obvious. This causes a pockmarked or rippled appearance--the dreaded cellulite.

Next in the Anti-Aging Skin Care Series:
There are two biological processes that cause skin to age. Learn which one you can’t control...and which one you can, in What Causes Aging Skin?

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What Causes Aging Skin?

In order to develop anti-aging skin care strategies you need to understand the fundamentals of what causes it? There has been much research done in this area and it all comes to the conclusion that there are two types of aging:

1)Intrinsic (internal) aging which is caused by genes that are inherited from our parents. These genes have hereditary patterns that control to a degree how our skin responds to environmental factors causing natural aging. These are difficult to control.

2)Extrinsic (external) aging which is caused by external factors. These are the environment factors like exposure to UVA and UVB rays. These factors are much easier to control.

Intrinsic Aging

Our bodies begin to age the minute we are born. We mature to adults until our twenties and then the second phase of aging starts. Its this second phase of aging that people want to slow or halt. In this phase our skin gradually begins to lose its elasticity which is caused by several factors. Research has shown that collagen production begins to slow and elastin becomes less elastic. Also the production of dead skin cells slows and the start of new skin cells slows. Some typical signs of intrinsic aging are:

• wrinkles
  
• thinning skin/ transparent skin
• drying skin
• drooping eyelids
• sagging/loose skin in the jawbone area
• bags under the eyes
• pattern baldness for men or women
• thinning hair
• hair growth in unwanted areas
• reduced ability to sweat/ cool the skin
• Bones can shrink causing sagging skin
• loss of fatty tissues resulting in loss of firmness in the cheeks, eye sockets, hands and neck

The genes also not only how we age but how fast we age as well. Some may develop wrinkles in their twenties while others develop them in their thirties

Extrinsic Aging

There are a variety of external/ environmental factors that age our skin simultaneously with the intrinsic factors to cause premature aging of our skin. The most common causes of extrinsic aging are:

• sun exposure (the most common)
• gravity
• sleeping positions
• smoking
• drinking
• poor diet
• stress
• repetitive facial expressions like frowning
  

Sun exposure is usually the most common and yet easy to control. All it takes is a few minutes a day of exposure and over years it builds up causing bug changes to the skin. Common results are: a blotchy complexion, spider veins on the face, rough leathery skin, loose skin, freckles, age spots, skin cancer, actinic keratoses and of course wrinkles.

Aging caused by sun exposure is called "photoaging" by dermatologists. The amount of photoaging is determined by the persons skin color(fair skin ages faster than darker skins) and their history of long-term sun exposure. When the skin photoages it loses the ability to fix itself and the damage piles up by breaking down collagen and reducing the making of new collagen. Elastin is also damaged by the sun resulting in reduced elasticity of the skin(sagging).

If you have fair skin and get a freckle over night you may assume that photoaging happens suddenly when actually it happens gradually beneath the surface of the skin for years undetected. A technology has been developed called UV photography which allows you to view the damage underneath your skin.

You can view some photos of UV photography here

Gravity

The gravitational forces that keeps us from floating away into space also pushes on our bodies attacking our elasticity in our skin. A few noticeable results of this are a drooping nose, ear lobes, and eyelids.

Smoking

There is a ton of scientific research out there and growing daily about how smoking accelerates aging. Studies have shown a few side affects of smoking for 10+ years can give you a more deeply wrinkled, leathery skin, cause a yellowish hue and blotches on fingers, hands and generally all over the body.

Facial Expressions

Every time you use a facial muscle a groove forms beneath the surface of the skin which is what causes lines in our skin when we make facial expressions. When the skin starts to lose elasticity these grooves become more noticeable causing fine lines and wrinkles

Sleeping positions

sleeping the same way for years causes sleeping lines which lead to wrinkles. If you sleep on your side or with your face down into the pillow you will develop sleeplines easier. The best way to avoid these sleeeplines is to sleep on your back so your skin doesn't get crumpled against anything in your sleep.


So what can you do to prevent premature aging caused by intrinsic and extrinsic factors?

• Avoid tanning altogether and reduce your sun exposure. When you decide to go out make sure you have sunscreen year around
• quit smoking immediately. There is research showing that people who quit smoking can still avoid many of the affects of long term smokers
• Avoid drinking excess alcohol.
  
• Stay out of the sun between 10am to 4pm when the sun's rays are the strongest
• Use a broad spectrum sunscreen(UVA and UVB) with an SPF (Sun Protection Factor) of 15 or higher
• Use a good moisturizer with collagen when your skin is dry
  
• Research your family history and create an anti aging program for yourself
• reduce stress by meditating or take time away from your problems
  

Other alternatives include cosmetic treatments, surgery, hair transplants, and other choices to slow the external signs of aging skin. Some cosmetic procedures include:

• injectable fillers
• botulinum toxin
• radiofrequency
• dermabrasion
• laser resurfacing
• chemical peeling
• microdermalabrasion

There are a number of ingestible food based products that revolve around optimizing nutrition that i will be detailing in future blog posts.

Research in this area is increasing and will likely yield better future products. The best way to keep up with the latest products that work is to consult with a dermatologist and design a program around their suggestions. You can also try the UV photography to get a glimpse first hand of the sun's handiwork.

If you are lucky and live long enough, aging skin will catch up to you and the years you acquire will eventually show on your face. One of the healthiest things you can do for yourself is to work on accepting your aging process with dignity…and grace…and style.

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Aging Skin: 7 HabitsThat Make Skin Age Faster

These lifestyle choices contribute to aging skin

Many of the external causes of aging skin are determined by the health and lifestyle decisions you make every day. Making unhealthy choices can cause prematurely aging skin, and this makes you look older, faster.

An important part of any anti-aging skin care program is to know what you may be doing that is harming your skin and speeding up your skin's aging process.

Here are 7 habits that contribute to aging skin, making you look older than your years:

1. Cigarette smoke: Whether you smoke, or you spend time with a smoker, cigarette smoke is damaging -- and aging -- to your skin. Research has shown that exposure to cigarette smoke significantly increases skin wrinkles and dryness. This is partly due to the behavior of smoking, and also because cigarette smoke depletes your body of Vitamin C, which is a key ingredient for keeping skin plump and moist.

   Some researchers believe that exposure to cigarette smoke (whether you smoke or not) is as damaging to aging skin as exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays.

2. Sun exposure: Sun exposure is very aging to skin. Unprotected skin that is exposed to the sun becomes more mottled in appearance. Freckles can turn into brown sun spots, the skin takes on a dry, leathery appearance, and wrinkles and sagging increase. The risk of skin cancer is significantly increased by sun exposure.

   The good news is that sun damage is avoidable, and if you start now, you can improve the condition of sun damaged skin.

   • See your health care provider to assess the amount of sun damage you may have, and to rule out possible skin cancers. He or she may be able to prescribe medication that can help to reduce existing sun damage.
   • If you want to avoid aging skin but don’t want to avoid the sun, make sure you use sunscreen that protects against both UVA and UVB rays. Choose sunscreen with SPF of 15 or higher, and use it all year-round, even on cloudy days. Clouds do not protect you from ultraviolet ray exposure.

3. Lack of exercise: Living a sedentary life contributes to aging skin, because exercise helps to tone your muscles and get your blood flowing. Exercise should be an important part of every anti-aging skin care program. Researchers have also discovered that sedentary older adults are at higher risk for dementia .

   In addition to the physical benefits of exercise, the benefits of a regular exercise program will show on your face. Having a bright smile and lots of energy will help you look and feel younger, at any age.

4. Exposure to cold weather: Cold winds and low temperatures contribute to aging skin by making skin dry, so if you venture out in the cold be sure to use a good moisturizer.

   It’s important to use moisturizer indoors too, as heated rooms can be very drying to skin. Consider using a humidifier to help keep your skin more comfortable and reduce the aging skin effects of heated rooms.

5. Alcohol use: Alcohol contributes to aging skin by dilating small blood vessels in the skin and increasing blood flow near the skin's surface. Over time, these blood vessels can become permanently damaged, creating a flushed appearance and broken vessels on the skin’s surface.
6. Stress: Maybe you’ve heard this expression: “Don’t frown, your face could stay that way.” Stress and worry cause frowning, and over time the muscles in the face actually conform to that movement.

   To help reduce aging skin due to stress, be aware of your stress level and try to vary your facial expressions during the day. A good anti-aging skin care program should include meditation, yoga, gentle exercise or other relaxation techniques. Keeping stress in check -- and frown lines and aging skin wrinkles to a minimum -- will help you look and feel younger.

7. Lack of sleep: Too little sleep makes you look and feel tired. One of the first places lack up sleep shows up is on the face, with dark circles and bags under the eyes, and sagging skin. Lack of sleep is also a major factor in memory loss and symptoms of depression that include low interest in daily activities and negative thinking.

   Research has shown that most adults function best with 8-9 hours of sleep each night. Reduce caffeine during the day (with none in the evening), avoid eating at least 2 hours before bedtime, and maintain a sleep routine that includes going to bed at the same time each night. For more sleeping tips, see How to Get a Good Night's Sleep.

   If you are having trouble sleeping, for any reason, it’s important to see your health care provider.

While some signs of aging skin are inevitable, there’s a lot you can do to look your best at any age. Taking good care of yourself is the most important step in your anti-aging skin care program.

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Three Health Advantages Of A Vegetarian Diet

While many people lament the nutritional disadvantages
of a poorly planned vegetarian diet, few stress the
health advantages of adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet.
In this article, I will cover the major three nutritional
advantages of becoming a vegetarian.

The first major advantage of a vegetarian diet is
increased heart health. Vegetarians, on average, consume
more nuts (often as a supplemental form of protein). Nuts
contain "good" fats, such as omega-3 and omega-6. This
promotes good heart health by reducing "bad" cholesterol
and unclogging arteries.

In addition to nuts, vegetarians also consume more soy
milk (often to replace milk), which reduces "bad"
cholesterol and has been linked to good heart health.

The second major advantage vegetarians enjoy is increased
skin health. In addition to consuming larger quantities
of nuts (which contain healthful oils), vegetarians tend
to consume more fruit and vegetables, which are rich in
essential vitamins, including A and E, which are linked
to good skin health.

Fruits and vegetables also contain high amounts of fiber,
which helps flush toxins out of the body, further
contributing to better skin health.

The last health advantage vegetarians enjoy is an increased
natural consumption of antioxidants.

Antioxidants are foods that help prevent cancer by
destroying free radicals. Vitamin C and Vitamin E, two
strong antioxidants, are commonly found in vegetarian
meals.

Vitamin C can be found in berries, tomatoes, citrus fruit,
kale, kiwis, asparagus and peppers.

Vitamin E can be found in wheat germ, seed oils, walnuts,
almonds, and brown rice--all foods that are commonly a
part of a well-balanced vegetarian diet.

So what does this all mean for you as a prospective
vegetarian?

It means the popular mythology about vegetarian diets
is false. Not only can a vegetarian diet be nutritionally
sufficient, but it can also affect better skin
health, prevent cancer, and increase your
heart health.

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Skincare Strategies from the You Docs

The Vulnerable Body Part You Forget To Cover
By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D. You wear sunscreen. A shirt that's guaranteed to have SPF protection. And don't forget the hat. But there's one place most people forget to put on the sun protection: the lips.

In fact, more than 60 percent of regular sunscreen users skip their lips. But faithfully applying -- and reapplying -- SPF products there doubles your chances of keeping your lips kissably cancer-free. That's especially important since the lips are a surprisingly common spot for squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common type of skin cancer. It's even more likely to occur on your lower lip. Why? That's where you get more sun exposure.

Don't just slather on any old product: Be picky about what (and whom, of course) you put on your kisser. Dermatologists believe wearing shiny lip gloss focuses more UV rays on your lips. So use an SPF-fortified lip balm and reapply several times a day -- including after eating or swimming and whenever you or someone you love touches your lipstick.

If you've already had sun damage to your lips (yes, you), then consider moisturizing them with a little extra-virgin olive oil when you're at home (it doesn't contain SPF, so it's indoors-only wear). Too weird? OK, just look for products that contain it. This kitchen staple has been shown to decrease UVB damage to the skin (and UVB is what's associated with these squamous cell lip cancers).

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Red Wine Anti Aging Rip Off Exposed

(Dateline Denver CO):

By now you’ve probably heard about Resveratrol... the new anti-aging discovery that
was featured on Fox News, Barbra Walters and many other news outlets across the country. This
powerful yet natural “wrinkle-reducer”/antioxidant is found within the skin of red grapes. But the problem
is, until now, you’d have to drink 1000 glasses of red wine to get the amount needed to see any real anti-aging
results. But scientists have recently discovered away to concentrate the correct amount of this rare “fountain
of youth ingredient” into a potent ant-wrinkle skin cream so users can begin to see results right away without the calories and side effects of alcohol. You can get a free "Resveratrol Select"bottle now compliments of Market Health.


Sounds great doesn’t it?

It would be except for the fact that many fly-by-night rip off companies are scrambling to fill the high demand
for Resveratrol by filling their products with nothing but worthless fillers like corn starch. Why? Because real Resveratrol is supposedly rare and hard to find but is actually 5 sources of where you can find it.

1)Red Wine

2)Japanese Knotweed

3)Peanuts

4)Blueberries and Cranberries

5)Supplements

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The Best Sunscreen You Can Buy

When it comes to sunscreen, spending a fortune actually could harm your skin. For decent full-body protection, an average-size person needs to apply an ounce of sunscreen. That's the amount that fits in a shot glass ... and probably a whole lot more than you're using. Which brings us back to the trouble with the pricey stuff: Even fewer people will use a full ounce every day when that amount costs $20.

Even though you've narrowed your choices to the cheaper stuff, there are still important decisions to be made. The best ingredient to reach for, especially if you're the impatient type, is an inexpensive product made with zinc oxide. These work immediately, unlike other blocks (called "chemical" blocks) that need at least 15 to 30 minutes to soak into your skin to be effective.

Another plus for zinc oxide: It's now made in nanoparticle form, so it doesn't look like it did when you were a kid (in other words, you don't look like you've spread cream cheese on your face). One more plus: Zinc oxide protects against both types of damaging UV rays (UVA and UVB), so you're shielded from skin cancer and wrinkling.

Another OK option if you don't sweat: Sunscreens containing titanium dioxide. These also reflect the sun's harmful rays so that you avoid sun damage, but the downside is that these titanium blends often turn white, making you look ghostlike when you sweat.

Not going to be outdoors much today? Wear sunscreen anyway. You get an amazing amount of UV rays when you don't expect to, so treat sunscreen like 30 minutes of walking -- never miss a day (no excuses!).

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The YOU Docs -- Mike Roizen and Mehmet Oz -- are authors of "YOU: Being Beautiful -- The Owner's Manual to Inner and Outer Beauty."

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