Aging skin - stress,chronic fatigue,cortisol imbalance and aging skin - Research Paper Example

? Aging Skin - Stress, Chronic Fatigue, Cortisol Imbalance and Aging Skin Introduction The skin is the biggest and most complex bodyorgan; it functions as both the physical and biochemical obstruction that defends humans from loss of water and also other pathogens from the surrounding environment like chemicals, physical agents and solar ultraviolet radiations. The skin also supplies humans with very imperative physiological roles like immune resistance, thermoregulation, as a sensory organ metabolism and also as endocrine. (Gupta 1997) There are several products that have been created to deal with aging skin. This is because although old age is associated with wisdom, nobody wants to look old. There are several factors that are associated with ageing of the skin and these include stress, exposure to sunlight and diet. Cortisol, which is the hormone released by the body when stressed has been identified as a hormone that accelerated skin aging.(Copinschi 1997) Although aging is a natural progression of things, premature aging is not. Dealing with premature aging involves controlling both the internal and external factors of the body that contribute to premature aging. This paper looks into details how stress, cortisol imbalance and chronic fatigue relate to aging and how natural supplements can be used as an intervention to premature aging. Skin aging There are two types of skin aging: intrinsic skin aging and extrinsic skin aging. Intrinsic skin a aging is as a result of the natural progression of aging while the latter is as a result of external factors. Intrinsic aging initiate in the early 20s when collagen and elastin production in the skins slows down. The signs of intrinsic aging progress slowly and may not be visible for several decades. Some of the signs of intrinsic aging include fine wrinkles, thinning skin, loss of the fat underlying the skin, graying hair, dry itchy skin and thinning of nails. Individuals with Werner’s syndrome show signs of aging earlier than the normal person (Altemus et al 2010). Their hair turns grey when they are still teens and they look elderly when in their 30s. They may even show cataracts during their 20s. Extrinsic aging takes place when the factors causing natural aging combine with other external factors leading to premature aging of the skin. The damaging effect of the sun rays is a major external factor causing premature aging in combination of other factors such as stress, smoking, repetitive facial expression, gravity; sleep positions and excessive taking of alcohol. Cortisol and Stress Cortisol is a hormone that is that is produced by the body and is responsible for the release of the hormone adrenaline. Cortisol when produced in the right amount is good for the body as it enables a person to react appropriately to stressful situation. However, when it is produced in excess amount amounts, it causes premature aging and may cause chronic illness at advanced ages. Excess cortisol is produced when a person is under excessive stress. A person gets stressed when they find themselves in situations where they are not control. Such cases are bound to come up in everyday life as a it is not possible to be in control of everything at work, at home or even in school. However, how a person reacts to the daily stresses determine the amount of cortsol that the body produces. Cortisol is produced by the body in large amounts in the morning as it provides the body with energy to get one through the day. By evening the level of cortisol is expected to reduce by ninety percent However, today people are producing more cortisol than before. This is because they work for longer hours than before. Modern technology has blurred the line between working hours and leisure time. People still take their work home. The working mothers are also seen to produce a high level of cortisol. This is because they have a day time job and still have to perform their home duties after work. Excess production of cortosol causes the degradation of skin collagen ten times that its effect on other body tissue. This is because it causes a reduction in the production of  dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). DHEA is an anti-aging homone and is responsible for other body metabolism such as muscle stamina, strength and mass, memory decline, sleep problems, fatigue and low sex drive. It also has other detrimental effects on body such as destroying the neurons in the brain thus increasing the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Excess cortisol the body also leaches the body of important nutrients. This is because the body rallies resources to try to balance the cortisol level and this robs the body of important nutrients. It also increases the blood pressure and reduces bone formation and hence increasing the risk of a person getting osterioporosis disease. Moreover, excessive cortisol production causes pressure on the adrenal glands which get fatigues. As a result, they are unable to produce the normal levels of cortisol needed by the body every day. A person experiencing adrenal fatigue complains of being fatigues and struggles to get through the day. Excessive production of cortisol not only increases the rate of aging by damaging collagen but it also increases the risk of dermatitis and other skin infection. This is because it affects the immune system making the skin vulnerable to these diseases. Stress is a daily part of our lives, and as we have learned stress induces the body to produce adrenaline. We know that the human body is like a machine because every chemical produced the human body has a response for it. Adrenaline causes anxiety, excitement, nervousness and very high energy levels. When we are stressed and the level of stress rises, adrenaline turns out to be damaging. The high adrenaline levels eat away the nutrients that the body has stored and it begins with the insignificant organs of the body. The heart and the lungs are not poor of nutrients that much because these organs work overtime (Monjan 2010). These two organs are not the ones that are attacked by adrenaline, the organ that is shattered off nutrients in the skin. We try to find ways of handling stress but we can never get rid of stress completely. Stress is an important part of our life. Handling stress involves more than controlling your state of mind. Fighting the premature aging process or slowing it down involves finding stress reducing ways. Some of the recommended ways are meditation, breathing techniques and some natural supplements. (Andersen 48) Some simple ways to deal with stress in our daily life are; 1. Have some few minutes daily that you take to listen to your favorite music while you are relaxed. You will choose what works best for you it depends with your taste. This will help your mind and body to relax and reduce nervousness in your body. It will also reduce your blood pressure and even prop up peaceful feelings that fight off stress 2. One should make sure that he/she gets good quality sleep. Different people have different healthy sleep time others will slip six hours a night and that will be enough for them others need eight to twelve hours. This to a great extent affects or skin bodily look. 3. If you cannot handle stress by yourself it is good that your see your doctor. In the current century there are very good anti stress treatments available that if you are suffering from stress you should consider. Some are natural like anxietol7 and do not need a doctor’s prescription, but it is still recommended you see your doctor first because the stress may be a result of other causes and effects that you do not know. Other causes of skin aging There are other notable causes of skin aging that have a strong scientific support but there are others that are not well proven. I will concentrate on those that have been proven with proper scientific experiments. Inflammation is one of the major causes of aging. The human body fights infections though the process of inflammation hence a certain amount of inflammation is necessary for health. Inflammation helps the skin to remove damaged tissues, it also nurse back to health sunburns and other oxidative processes on the skin. The problem comes when excess inflammation occurs which leads to aging at a much hastened rate, damaging and blemishing of the skin normal tissue structural design. Inflammatory reaction is prominent in the people who have high levels of oxidative stress side effects. (DeHaven 2007) High levels of inflammation can be controlled by an anti inflammatory product found in olive trees, olea europaea called oleuropein. This product is found in high amounts within the leaf of the olive than in all the other parts of the olive tree. This product controls the inflammatory process and rare cases of excess inflammation have been heard from patients who use oleuropein. Another case of aging that we should get to know is glycation. This is a body process of appending sugar to a protein. To understand this we need to know that oxidative damage occurs inside the cell i.e. it is intracellular on the other hand glycation occurs outside the cell hence an extracellular process. This process occurs in tissues that are rich in proteins which contain protein collagen in high amounts. The skin is one of the body tissues that contain protein collagen, other body tissues with this protein are blood vessels, the lens of the eye and joints. Glycated collagen is dented collagen and it does not respond to the normal human stress making one skin to look aged even at a very young age. The people with diabetes, the obsessed and the elderly are the most known victims of excess glycation process. Here we see that glycation causes the death of skin cells. It is also what causes secretion of the enzyme collagen that destroys the skin. This process also reduces the skin capacity to bring into being and redevelop collagen of high quality(Marks, Miller & Jeffery 2006). To avoid this one should avoid sugars developed carbohydrates. DNA damage is another cause of premature aging skin. DNA contains human generic composition and also controls the role of the cell in which it is located in. A cell with damaged DNA cannot properly function and may also cause one to have cancer. Photoaging and high oxidative stress causes DNA damage. The damage of DNA is mostly found with Werner syndrome because these people lack the helicase enzyme that is needed for the repair of DNA. These people at the age of late twenties and early thirties will look many decades old. They also get sick often and have a low lifespan. DNA is area under discussion to free radical damage as result antioxidants perks up the rates of DNA damage. Some development aspects such as epidermal growth factor or hepatocyte growth factor can direct the DNA of fibroblasts to manufacture more collagen (Roupe 2001). In the presence of fructose the degeneration of collagen occurs faster with more than ten times compared to glucose. Signs and symptoms There are signs that show us that our skin is aging that we can easily note. One of them is that your skin will become tougher. If you notice this even at a young age then you need take the required measures. Another notable symptom is that the skin develops abrasions such as benign tumors. Another observation that one can easily make is the skin becoming slack, this is caused by the loss of elastin which is the elastic tissue in the skin (Kumar et al 2002). One will also note that the skin becomes more transparent an observation that is caused by the thinning of the epidermis (Jablonski & Chaplin 2000). Ones skin also becomes fragile, this happens when the area where the epidermis and the dermis come together flattens. If you find out that you skin is becoming easily bruised which is due to thinner blood vessel walls then your skin is aging and you need to take responsibility. Natural intervention using nutritional supplements There are two promising ways that have been proven possible of treating aging skin. One of the interventions is using alpha-hydroxy acids and the other is by use of antioxidants (Proksch Brandner and Jensen 2008). However, the use of these supplements comes with some side effects to some users. Glycolic acid and lactic acid are good examples of alpha-hydroxy acids that are acquired from fruits and some dairy products we use in our day to day life. Dermatologists use these in compound peelings, which are intended to get rid of dented cover of the skin. Cosmetic producers have made alpha-hydroxy acids part of their ingredient in manufacture of skin care products. A study in 1996 that took twenty two weeks that involved seventy four women with damaged skin (Wagner 2009). They were supposed to apply a cream that contained eight percent of glycolic acid and the same amount of lactic acid others were to apply placebo cream on their forearm and face. Positive results were got from the alpha-hydroxy cream than those who used placebo cream. The side effects of alpha-hydroxy acids are blistering, severe redness, swelling especially around the area around the eyes, a burning sensation, bleeding, rashes and an augmented feeling to the sun (Charlene 2011). There are concerns that this acids increase the chances of skin cancer, something that is causing serious disagreements around the word on whether it should be used. Another natural treatment is the use of antioxidants. These are materials that reduce the effect of free radicals (Turabina 2012). Some of the known antioxidants are alpha-lipoic acid, vitamin C, lycopene, vitamin E and selenium. The use of antioxidants has been seen to reduce some skin aging signs like skin roughness and scaling. They have also been seen to prevent sun damage especially topical vitamin C and vitamin E. Other natural treatments are use of niacinamide cream which improves skin texture and appearance and also elasticity. The silicon mineral is another natural treatment of aging skin. Finally, melatonin which an antioxidant hormone that protects the skin against ultra violet radiation study has been reported perfect protection against sunburns (Roost 2002). It also helps in the repairing of burnt skin, while it also plays the important role of controlling how blood is distributed within the skin area. Medical herbs the Indian gooseberry and ashwagandha have been seen to improve healthy skin appearance and functions. They have been noted to bring into being expansive spectrum antioxidant movement in the skin and to care for the detrimental consequence of complimentary radicals on the skin. This has made the Indian gooseberry to be used in healing of wounds on the human skin, preventing photoaging and general skin purpose protection. Ashwagandha has been proven to guard the skin from the special effects of stress. Regular intake of ashwagandha and Indian gooseberry is highly recommended (Gupta 1997). Selenium, molybdenum and copper are requisite elements for the safeguarding of antioxidant protection system in the skin. Clinical research has recently proven these antioxidants that reduce lesion and visual skin perfections. They are most effective in people that have low activity of baseline glutathione peroxides activity. Plant polyphenols are photo protective nutrients that can be used as skin aging remedy. They are natural happening compounds which are extensively disseminated in plant based foods. Sources of polyphenols are plants like onions that have flavonols, cacao beans, grape seeds that contain proanthocyanidins, tea, apples, red wine that contains flavonols and catechins, citrus fruits that have flavanones, berries and cherries that have anthocyanidins and finally soy that has isoflavones (Luthringer 2009). All these have very considerable skin protective effects that prevent premature aging. A daily consumption of these polyphenols is suggested daily for proper skin protection. A good demonstration is the responsibility of dietary components like catechins that is obtained from green tea and proanthocyanidins from grape seeds. These have been seen to prevent ultra violet induced skin carcinogenesis in vitro and in vivo in animal forms (Kahan et al 2010). They also improve the general quality of the skin, roughness, elasticity and hydration. Finally we look into chronic fatigue another major factor that leads to premature skin aging. Very few people know that chronic fatigue leads to changes in the facial tissue complexion. This leads to a significant damage of the skin tissue and other disorders such as atopic dermatitis, eczema and psoriasis. At least a seven to eight hour sleeping duration is recommended for one to be able to maintain a youthful looking skin. Poor sleeping quality id accompanied by normal aging. During sleep the melatonin hormone is produced by the pineal gland through a process motivated by a human biological clock that is found in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. A reduction in the melatonin levels in humans causes aging (Grice 2000). Most people suffering from insomnia need appropriate treatment with melatonin and this will prevent aging. The best way to fight and treat aging skin is to find ways to fight those factors that cause premature skin aging. Smoking is one cause of premature aging which most people are not aware of. If you are smoking and you are worried that you are experiencing premature aging then you need to stop smoking (Plat et al 1999). The nicotine in cigarettes causes serious damage to the human skin. The contents of cigarettes squeeze your blood vessels curbs the flow of blood which makes it hard for the flow of oxygen around your skin. To conclude we see that the skin is a very vital organ that needs to be taken care of using the right components. Medical expert knowledge is required because using substances without dermatologist knowledge can lead to severe damage of the skin. Proper care of the skin is very important in human social life. There are ways available for you to revamp, restore to health and avoid aging effects on the human skin; it is on no account too late. References Altemus M, Rao B, Dhabhar FS, Ding W. and Granstein RD. (2001) Stress-induced changes in skin barrier function in healthy women. J Invest Dermatol. Charlene Dehaven . (2011). Causes of skin aging. Retrieved from http://www.isclinical.com/whitepapers/skin-aging.pdf. Grice K., A. (2000). Transepidermal water loss in pathologic skin. In: Jarrett A (ed.). The Physiology and Pathophysiology of the Skin. London: Academic Press, 2147-55. Gupta M.A., Gupta A.K. (1997). Psychodermatology: an update. J Am Acad Dermatol.;34 (6):1030-46. Jablonski, N.G and Chaplin (2000). "The evolution of human skin coloration". Journal of Human Evolution 39: 57–106. Kahan V, Andersen ML, Tomimori J and Tufik S (2010). Can poor sleep affect skin integrity? Med Hypotheses ;75(6):535-7. Kumar MS, Kirubanandan S, Sripriya R, Sehgal P. K. and Triphala. (2008). promotes healing of infected full-thickness dermal wound. J Surg Res.;144(1):94-101 Leproult R., Copinschi G., Buxton O., Van Cauter E. (1997) Sleep loss results in an elevation of cortisol levels the next evening. Sleep.;20(10):865-70. Luthringer R, Muzet M, Zisapel N and Staner L. (2009). The effect of prolonged-release melatonin on sleep measures and psychomotor performance in elderly patients with insomnia. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. ;24(5):239-49. Marks, James G, Miller and Jeffery (2006). Lookingbill and Marks' Principles of Dermatology. (4th ed.). Elsevier Inc. Monjan, A.A .(2010). Perspective on sleep and aging. Front Neuro ;1:124. Plat L, Leproult R, L’Hermite-Baleriaux M, et al. (1999). Metabolic effects of short-term elevations of plasma cortisol are more pronounced in the evening than in the morning. J Clin Endocrinol Metab.;84(9):3082-92. Proksch, E; Brandner, J.M and Jensen, J. M.(2008). "The skin: an indispensable barrier.". Experimental Dermatology Roost M. and Nilsson P. (2002). Sleep disorders—a public health problem. Potential risk factor in the development of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and premature aging. Lakartidningen. 17; 99(3):154-7. Roupe G.(2001). Skin of the aging human being. Lakartidningen. (10):1091–5. Turabina, Kate. (2012). Building “Optimal Health” http:teeccino.com/building_optimal_health/148/Six-Tips-To-Reduce-The-Stress-Hormone,-Cortisol.html (accessed December 2013) Wagner, Sara (2009) “How to reduce stress and slow aging” http:www.freshvancouver.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=100:the-cortisol-connection-how-to-reduce-stress-and-slow-aging&catid=48:anti-aging&Itemid=107 Read More