Blog 7

Wrinkles


What are wrinkles? And why we don’t have wrinkles when we’re young? Well, wrinkle is a crease or fold in the skin. When we’re young we don’t see wrinkles in our skin, it’s because our skin still does a good job of stretching and holding in moisture. As we all know we have three layers in our skin, such as Epidermis as the outermost layer, Dermis as the middle layer, and Subcutaneous as the innermost layer.

When we grow older our epidermal cells become less sticky and thinner and it leads to the dryness in our skin. We lose 10% of our epidermal cells per decade so our skin will takes time to repair itself. Dermis layer also has its own important part in our skin. Dermis is the one that keep our skin look young, because in dermis there is a protein called collagen whose play is to prevent wrinkles. When we get older we will lose the collagen so the dermal layer will get thinner and it will cause trouble of getting enough moisture for the epidermis. The epidermis causes the skin to be sag and wrinkles start to form.

Even though wrinkles are a natural process of aging, it’s not necessary for us to think that we will get wrinkle when we’re old, because there’s chances of us to get wrinkles under our eyes during our 20’s and for some people they probably just notice wrinkles on their skin during their 50’s or 60’s. This is happen because some people take a good care of their skin and some people don’t. For some people they probably have skin’s natural oil and have good genes, meaning their family doesn’t have a lot of wrinkles.

Twins and The Aging of Wrinkles


There is a new study about wrinkles based on identical twins. Researchers gathered almost 200 pairs of twins who attended the annual twin festival in Ohio. Why did they choose twins? It’s because twins are the perfect example of people who has the same genes. It’s like the” genetically programmed” to age the same way. In this study, the researchers reveal some surprising answers about what’s the factor of wrinkles and there is nothing to do with the “pricey” treatments.

Let’s take a closer look at Jeanne and Susan. A pair of identical twins who’s 61 years old but Jeanne looks way younger than Susan. The reasons are, Susan used to smoke a pack and a half of cigarettes per day during her 20’s and she quit smoking on her 30’s, she weighs 15 pounds less than Jeanne, and she moved to Florida when she was 20 years old, so she’s been under the sun a lot more than Jeanne. And for Jeanne, she never smoke and she got less sun exposure. Today according to Jeanne, Susan looks 10 years older than she is now. Bahman Guyuron, a plastic surgeon in Cleveland, and colleagues at Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University said that “It may seem odd that two people with the same DNA could look so different, but it’s common.” In this case, Susan used to smoke and the longer she smokes the older she looks with more wrinkles and more uneven skin tone. Susan mentioned that she weighs 15 pounds less, and according to Guyuron “for women over 40, additional weight fills in and softens wrinkles, making a heavier twin look younger than her sister.” Susan also lives under the sun and sun exposure could speed up aging with deepens wrinkles and mottles skin, that’s why we should always apply sunscreen to prevent these effects on our skin. So basically, different behaviors could cause differences in people’s appearance.

From this study the researchers found the other factor of wrinkles such as hormones, for women who take hormone- replacement therapy, and birth control pills, the higher the dose is the more likely for women to look younger it’s because estrogen can increase water preservation and make skin smoother. Also alcohol could cause the other twin to look younger than twin who drinks alcohol. Excess alcohol could damage the blood vessels in the skin and it will destroy the quantity and the quality of collagen fibers in dermis layer (the one that make the skin looks young). People who takes anti depress pills will make them look older because anti depress pills will weaken their eye muscle and make eyes look droopy. Surprisingly, divorce could cause people to look older and get more wrinkles. It happens because the level of their stress is higher than people who are married or single.

How To Reduce/Prevent Wrinkles


· Stay away from the sun. Sun is number one cause of wrinkles. Wear sunscreen to prevent wrinkles.
· Going to tanning salon is dangerous for our skin. The UV light is almost the same thing or it can be worse than the sun.
· Don’t smoke. Cigarette destroys the collagen in our skin and it causes wrinkles.
· Don’t drink alcohol. Too much alcohol will destroy our blood vessel in our skin and will damage the collagen fibers.
· Get enough sleep and sleep on your back. If we get enough sleep, our body will produce more hormones and help skin to remain thick and less wrinkle. Also sleeping on the side will increase wrinkles on our face and chin area.
· Don’t squint. Squinting is cause an overwork muscle and it will cause wrinkle under the eyes
· Eat healthy. Fish is good for our skin because they contain protein, and the protein will help reduce wrinkles. Fruits and vegetables will fight the free radicals the one that destroy our cells. They also make skin look younger.
· Use moisturizer and wash your face at the right time. This one is most likely for women. Skin that is moist will look better and less wrinkle. Use more moisturizer during the months when the air is drier. Don’t let the skin get dry. Also don’t wash your face too often because water could wash away the protection that our skin need.
· The most important thing is drink a lot of water. Drink water at least 8 glasses per day.