Did you know that collagen loss in the body begins at ages 18-29, after age 40 the human body can lose about 1% per year, and by age 80 the body's collagen production can decrease by 75% overall compared to that of young adults? (1,2)
But what is the role of collagen, the cause of its loss, and are there any ways to prevent it?
What is the role of collagen?
A very important role because it is found throughout the human body in bones, tendons, ligaments, hair, skin and muscles. (Healing of wounds and tissues, repair of cornea, gums, scalp, also helps in the repair of bones and blood vessels).
What contributes to collagen loss?
Some factors, among others, free radicals in the body, poor diet, tobacco, alcoholism and diseases.
Free radicals - photo-aging, main subject of an article (3) specifying that it is a subset of extrinsic skin aging; the sun would influence this extrinsic skin aging and would play a role in the potential alteration of the normal course of intrinsic aging (natural or cellular).
The effects on the skin are easily apparent when comparing skin that is regularly exposed to the sun versus skin that is almost never exposed. The aging process is also believed to be influenced by the formation of free radicals.
Collagen loss is considered the hallmark of aging skin. Wrinkles and pigment changes are directly associated with photoaging and are considered its most prominent cutaneous manifestations. These photodamages are signs of premature aging.
Can photoaging be prevented?
The only well-known proposed strategies to prevent aging are: sun avoidance, use of sunscreens to block or reduce skin exposure to UV rays, use of retinoids (the term retinoids refers to vitamin A and its derivatives).
Our must-sees - Sunny side
During…
An essential treatment: My mineral sunscreen with shea & zinc oxide ; this shea enhanced with shea oil, vanilla oleoresin, CO2 sea buckthorn oil and essential oils of wild orange, petitgrain, neroli which help the skin absorb the sun's rays, as well as a hint of vegetable glycerin which gives it a sublime texture and zinc oxide, without nanoparticles, helps block and reflect the sun's rays!
After…
Essentials: After-sun for the body & rose serum for the face. These serums feature at the top of the list, virgin rosehip ( nicknamed plant collagen ) which helps the skin to regenerate while restoring carotenes degraded by the sun, in order to properly repair what could have been damaged. Its regenerative activity coupled with a richness in antioxidants reduces wrinkles and smooths superficial lines.
Its retinol content makes it a wonderful vegetable oil for the care of skin marked by the sun (premature aging) and is traditionally recommended for its skin repair action.
References (the titles of the studies have been translated into French):
(1) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6891674/ Hydrolyzed Collagen—Sources and Applications Molecules. November 2019; 24(22): 4031. 2019. doi: 10.3390/molecules24224031, Arely León-López, Alejandro Morales-Peñaloza, Victor Manuel Martínez-Juárez, Apolonio Vargas-Torres, Dimitrios I. Zeugolis and Gabriel Aguirre-Álvarez
(2) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16723701/ Varani J., Dame MK, Rittie L., Fligiel SEG, Kang S., Fisher GJ, Voorhees JJ Decreased collagen production in chronologically aged skin: roles of age-dependent impairment of fibroblast function and defective mechanical stimulation. Am. J. Pathol. 2006;168:1861–1868. doi: 10.2353/ajpath.2006.051302
(3) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6599888_Skin_aging_and_its_treatment Skin aging and its treatment. J. Pathol. 2007; 211: 241–251. doi: 10.1002/chemin.2098. Baumann L.
Leave a comment