Young skin

SKIN DAMAGE: AGE: CARTILADE® ORAL AND TOPICAL ANTIOXIDANT

Everybody wants to turn the clock back on aging. Aging is most obvious in the skin and there is a universal quest to restore a youthful appearance. It is well accepted that ultraviolet (sun) light is the major cause of premature skin aging. Sunscreens are helpful but require a degree of compliance in their application which has to be meticulous to afford protection against strong sunlight.

Recent research has focused on the benefit of antioxidants in dietary supplements or topical formats to "turn back the clock" on skin aging. Research at Duke University Medical Center has shown that concentrated vitamin E (10%) and vitamin C containing creams reduced inflammation by nearly one half on test animals exposed to ultraviolet rays. Furthermore, it has been found by the application of antioxidant cream containing selenium or an oral dose of selenium delayed the onset of skin cancers in mice, which can be induced by ultraviolet light. These findings and other research have caused cosmetic companies to invest millions of dollars in antioxidant based research for skin aging. Esteé Lauder and Elizabeth Arden have this research underway.

Something even more exciting has been discovered but it has not yet reached the level of this applied research on skin aging. It appears that following exposure to harmful ultraviolet light (strong sunlight) that matrix metalloproteinases are released in the skin causing microcirculatory damage and angiogenesis. This mechanism is responsible presumably for the microvascular damage that occurs with skin exposure to sunlight. This damage results in unsightly telangectasia and skin blemishes, which are so devastating from a cosmetic point of view. These "spider-like" aggregations of broken blood vessels are so often the focus of upset, especially when noticed on the face. Facial tints and cosmetics are used in voluminous quantities to hide these sun-induced, skin blemishes.

Thus, it would appear that the promotion of angiogenesis by sun induced activation of factors in the skin is a key step in skin aging. How does one reverse the process or prevent it? The obvious option is to apply antiangiogenic therapy. Shark cartilage and isoflavones are antiangiogenic. Indeed, considerable evidence has suggested that fish cartilage products may have anti-aging properties. This has lead to the development of Imedeen which contains some fish cartilage. Unfortunately, the concentrations of active antiangiogenic factors in Imedeen, in the author's opinion, may not be adequate to obtain the desired effects on the skin.

To summarize, antioxidants play a role in protecting the skin from solar damage when given orally or topically and shark cartilage is an ideal antiangiogenic agent. In fact, shark cartilage contains highly potent inhibitors of tissue metalloproteinases which are molecules that promote angiogenesis and skin damage.

These exciting developments have led to the development of a dietary supplement containing beneficial antioxidants combined with shark cartilage that provides the important ancillary action of antiangiogenesis. This very exciting new product is a proprietary antioxidant and shark cartilage product that is to be marketed under the name Cartilade® Antioxidant. For details please call 1-800-700-7325.

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