Your Skin's Lifestyle

We all tend to get hung up on our skin\'s cosmetic attributes. Is that a new wrinkle? How can I make my elbows smoother? Will this make me break out? But our concern with skin as upholstery ignores a larger truth:

Skin is our largest organ, and everyone can see it. In short, what you do internally as well as external factors, effect your skin. Flawless skin is a thing of beauty. We coddle it, we nourish it, we try to improve it. Skin is the great protector.

The outer layer, the epidermis, is thinner than Saran Wrap; it is stain-resistant and waterproof. Tightly woven epidermal cells form a sturdy barrier to hold moisture in as well as keep unwanted water out. Factors such as air pollution, chemically based cosmetics, chemical exposure, facial surgery or cosmetic peels, all contribute externally to our skins appearance. On the surface, dead, compacted, and sloughing cells add toughness, a kind of see-through coat of armor. With a cleverness the military would envy, the epidermis brims with stem cells ready to spin out reinforcements as needed, and pigment-producing melanocytes to deflect skin\'s No. 1 enemy--the sun. This includes tanning beds! Its rays are especially damning to the skin\'s middle layer, the dermis.

Ah, the dermis. Suffused with collagen, the dermis brings firmness--and when collagen is broken down, skin wrinkles and sags. Lacing through the skin are blood vessels, hair follicles, sweat and oil-producing glands, all bathed in a plasma soup of chemical messengers, hormones, and roaming white blood cells. Amid all this, abundant neural connections run to and from the brain and other organs. Internal factors directly impact the dermis’ ability to fight free-radicals that break down our collagen and elastin. Smoking, alcohol or substance consumption, as well as diet, stress and a sedentary lifestyle are major contributors to the breakdown of your skins texture, beauty and youthfulness.

Skin is gender-sensitive as well. Though men and women have similar skin, some sex differences leave women at a distinct disadvantage. Perhaps in an evolutionary throwback to a time when women nested while their hunter-gatherer men braved the outdoors, women\'s skin is less prepared to brace the elements, being thinner than men\'s and less oily. Since thinner, drier skin is more prone to damage from the sun or the smoke of cigarettes, women so exposed are more apt to wrinkle. Women also sweat less than men do and are thus more likely to suffer heat stroke. Sex hormones shape skin, too. Estrogen increases collagen and skin moisture and promotes wound healing, while testosterone stimulates oil production and facial hair. Men enjoy both hormones, since skin is able to convert testosterone to estrogen. Women, too, benefit from both, since ovaries produce a small amount of testosterone. Until menopause, that is, when loss of sex hormones accentuates the crow\'s feet. Estrogen-deprived skin thins, loses collagen, and slows down its cell renewal. (adapted from Skin Deep By Bernadine Healy, M.D. Posted 11/6/05 US News)