Reflections on Beauty

According to ScienceDaily.com, focusing on the negative aesthetic effects of indoor tanning may effectively reduce indoor tanning behavior, even in young women. The report, which was published in the May issue of Archives of Dermatology, claims that this approach can even curb behaviors in women who tan to alleviate seasonal mood disorders or to relax.

Multiple studies to date have proven the cancerous effects of ultraviolet tanning beds on skin. Although this information is readily available, there are still many women who actively tan at indoor salons. While focusing on the health risks of tanning may work for some people, stressing the aesthetic downsides may be more beneficial.

Joel Hillhouse, Ph.D, of East Tennessee State University, alongside his colleagues, analyzed 430 female student tanners from one university. Two hundred women were randomly given a booklet that described the history, sociocultural context, and damaging effects of tanning on the skin. The booklet also contained recommendations on how to reduce indoor tanning use alongside healthier image-improvement advice. The remaining 230 subjects did not receive the booklet.

Hillhouse and colleagues assessed the participants for seasonal affective disorder and four pathological tanning motives: opiate-like reactions to tanning, insecurity in one’s skin tone, evidence of tolerance to the effects of tanning and the feeling that one has lost control of their tanning behavior.

Six months following the booklet distribution, the authors re-evaluated tanning frequency. The findings showed that tanning behavior had reduced in women who received the booklet, even in participants who reported a pathological motive for tanning.

“In other words, providing young patients who tan with information on the damaging effects of tanning on their appearance is effective even if they are addicted to tanning or using it to ameliorate depression symptoms,” the authors told ScienceDaily.com.

Although they may have pathological motives, tanners can also show concern about their appearance. The booklet may have also affected non-appearance motives in participants. Once scenario, the authors note, is that women who tan to relax may have become more anxious about the process after reading up on the harmful effects of tanning.

Aesthetically or medically, there is no argument that indoor tanning is bad for you. From wrinkles to melanoma, sunspots to immune system suppression, the drawbacks of indoor tanning blatantly outweigh any benefits.

As seasons change, so should your skin routine. With autumn comes cooler temperatures, less humidity and a whole new array of skin concerns to address. Don’t forget that just because jeans and sweaters cover your skin it doesn’t mean you can get lazy on your skincare. Here are a few tips on how to keep your skin healthy through the fall months:

Find A Body Cleanser for the Season:
Make sure your body wash isn’t going to dry out your skin. Look for products that are soap-free and hydrating to keep your skin in tip-top shape. Now would be a good time to trade in gel body washes for creamy body washes.

Exfoliate with Oil-Based Scrubs:
Exfoliation shouldn’t equate to dry skin. By finding face and body scrubs enriched with oil, you are not only cleanses your skin, you are keeping it hydrated as well.

Don’t Skip The Moisturizer:
To keep dry skin at bay, moisturize everyday! By applying lotion right out of the shower, you are sealing in the moisture that your body has just absorbed.

Assess Your Skin:
Your skin type can change with the seasons and environment. Look for dry skin, changes in breakout or oil levels. To ensure you are treating your skin type appropriately, seek out a skin consultation from a medical professional.

Sort Through Your Skincare Routine:
Using too many products together—such as facial masks and exfoliators—can irritate skin. If you have to, label your products with designated days so that you don’t overlap treatments. Also, remove and replace any expired products from your routine.

Sunscreen Is A Necessity:
Do you know that UV rays can damage your skin through clothing? Sunscreen is essential to protecting your skin against premature wrinkling, skin cancer and dryness. We recommend using at least and SPF 40 sunscreen daily. Don’t neglect your lips, either! A great SPF lip balm can prevent painful, cracked lips.

Don’t Forget Your Hands:
Your hands can show signs of aging just as much as any other part of your body. Indulge in a new hand moisturizer to keep in your bag, car or office. The cold weather, wearing gloves and constant hand washing can cause painful splitting. The more you moisturize your hands, the easier it is to prevent dryness.

If you have fall skin concerns, our physicians at the Reflections Center for Skin and Body would be happy to recommend the best skincare routine for your skin type.

Melanoma, though a less common type of skin cancer, accounts for about 75% of skin cancer deaths. The five-year survival rate for melanoma, if caught early, is 98 percent. That number drops drastically if the cancer is detected late or if it returns.

Because of this, it is important that the initial surgery to remove cancerous cells is accurate enough while leaving healthy tissue in tact.

Up until now, there has been no imaging technique that adequately defines the boundaries of the malignant tissue. Because of this, doctors usually remove excessive tissue around the cancerous cells to ensure a minimal chance of recurrence. Two scientists from Washington University in St. Louis have engineered technologies that promise to alleviate this problem.

The solution combines an imaging technique and a contrast agent that were developed by Lihong Wang, PhD, and Younan Xia, PhD, respectively. The combination of technologies provides an accurate three-dimensional rendering of the cancerous cells.

The technique, which is based on the photoacoustic effect discovered by Alexander Graham Bell, uses light and sounds waves for imaging purposes. Basically, when light pulses through tissue at the right frequency, the tissue generates sound waves as it expands and contracts. A computer then uses a mathematical problem to reconstruct an image from the sound waves.

The use of sounds waves in imaging works a lot better than light because light scatters much more often in tissue, creating a distorted image. The technology is called photoacoustic tomography (PAT).
“PAT improves tissue transparency by two to three orders of magnitude,” says Wang.

Not only that, PAT is a lot safer than other deep imaging technologies, like X-rays, because it uses up to 100 times less voltage output. In addition, photoacoustic images to no require patients consume contrasting agents for the image to be seen.

Although the technology is a vast improvement on other imaging resources, the images still come out fuzzy around the edges of the malignant tissue. In order to improve the image, Xia loads the tissue with gold.

“Gold is much better at scattering and absorbing light than biological materials. One gold nanocage absorbs as much light as a million melanin molecules,” says Xia.

The gold nanocages can be tuned to absorb and scatter light at many different wavelengths. In addition, gold particles that are injected into the body naturally accumulate in tumors because the malignant cells are disorganized and leaky.

In experiments in mice, the photacoustic signal with the addition of the gold agent was 36% stronger. Subcutaneous melanomas that are barely visible show up clearly, and in great depth, on photoacoustic images.

This advancement in melanoma imaging is not only important in the early detection of skin cancer; however, it can assist surgeons in accurately removing advancement malignant tissue. This means that patients who are diagnosed at a later stage may have a higher survival rate than in the past.

For years there has been a common misconception that ethnicities with darker skin tones are less prone to becoming casualties of skin cancer. According StyleList.com, a recent study shows that melanoma-related deaths are actually more common in darker skin tones.

In the study, 41,072 Florida residents with advanced melanoma were classified based on race. African Americans made up Twenty-six percent of the cases, 18% were Hispanics, and only 12% were Caucasian. But what’s the reasoning for this? Apparently minorities are less likely to be treated for skin cancer during the early detection stages.

Since there is an overwhelming public focus on the effects of sun damage on people with fair skin, their darker-skinned counterparts often feel bulletproof. That, and darker skin usually doesn’t burn or peel after having an excessive amount of sun exposure. According to Dr. Marcy Street, the first African-American female MOHS surgeon in the U.S., “there is a fairly common misconception among African Americans and Hispanics that we do not get skin cancer. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

To fight this statistic, individuals with darker skin should perform regular self-checks to ensure early detection of skin cancer. The ABCD Rule is recommended by the American Melanoma Association to help determine if a skin abnormality is cancerous or not:

• Asymmetry: if a lesion doesn’t look the same on both sides if it were divided in half
• Border: if the edges are blurry or jagged
• Color: any changes in color or if there are multiple colors within a lesion
• Diameter: if the lesion larger than ¼” in diameter

Skin cancer can be found almost anywhere on the body, including places that are not exposed to the sun directly. It is important to perform regular self-checks and report any abnormalities to your physician. And don’t forget that no matter how dark your skin is, it is always important to lather on a sunscreen of SPF30 or higher.

A recent study by two New York researchers has established that indoor tanning bed usage may be just as addictive as cigarettes or drugs. Researchers Sharon Danoff-Burg, PhD, of the University at Albany, and Catherine E. Mosher, PhD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, consulted 421 students at a Northeastern college about their tanning habits.

These pupils were given a survey normally used to identify drug and alcohol dependence which had been reworded to reflect their relationship with indoor tanning. Of the 421 students, 229 had visited indoor tanning salons. Of the 229 subjects, 160 met the researchers’ standards for indoor tanning addiction.  That’s 38% of all students tested qualifying as “addicted,” which could point to a major health concern for young adults.

Moreover, the study claimed that students addicted to tanning beds were also more inclined to have heightened anxiety and to abuse other addictive substances. “In addition to appearance enhancement, motivations [for tanning] include relaxation, improved mood, and socialization,” the study deduced.

While opponents have reservations about the study’s interpretation of addiction, it is a clear indication that indoor tanning is proving irresistible to some.  Considering that many studies have been released exposing the harmful effects of indoor tanning, it is important for young adults to understand what they are signing up for when they hit to tanning booth.

Our advice is to avoid the bronzed look altogether and opt for a healthy and natural skin tone.  The good news is this look is coming into fashion.  For New Jersey residents, we recommend sensible, limited sun exposure and using a sun screen of SPF 45 or higher every day to ensure that you are keeping your skin safe from the ravages of ultra-violet radiation.

Apparently, kangaroos have an enzyme that repairs their DNA and prevents skin cancer. This is not to say that kangaroos never get skin cancer; however, it’s almost unheard of. Inasmuch as over 400,000 Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year, scientists there are hot on the trail to see if they can convert the ‘roo’s enzyme into a version that could be added to a cream for human skin. The cream would be applied after a day in the sun to help prevent DNA damage, which can lead to skin cancer.

The research has been performed through a collaboration of scientists from the University of Innsbruck in Austria and Melbourne University in Australia. According to Linda Feketeova, one of the Australian researchers, “Other research teams have proposed a ‘dream cream’ containing the DNA repair enzyme which you could slap on your skin after a day in the sun. We are now examining whether this would be feasible by looking at the chemistry behind the DNA repair system.”

You can bet that any resulting cream is a long way off, but scientists are eager to reach their final goal to create a cream and obtain government approval to market it. We’ll let you know when we hear more about this exciting development!

In the meantime, come in and see us for Elta MD sunscreen. We highly recommend an SPF of 45 or higher, to be on the side of safety! Check out Sunscreen FAQ page and our animated video about how sun damage occurs.

Over our lifetime, our facial skin will endure the stresses of intrinsic and extrinsic aging. Intrinsic aging is genetically programmed and happens naturally.  Examples of intrinsic aging can be skin that begins to sag,  loss of underlying fat in the facial area which leads to hollow eye sockets and cheeks,  fine wrinkles, skin that is dry and itchy, translucent skin and also the inability of the skin to sweat sufficiently.

Extrinsic aging is a result of environmental factors that collectively over time causes damage to our skin.  Cigarette smoking is an example of extrinsic aging. Research has shown that a person who smokes an average of 10 or more cigarettes a day for a minimum of ten years will likely develop deep wrinkles and leathery skin.

A study by American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) found that sleeping positions over a period of time can also lead to deep facial wrinkling. The study showed that women who favor sleeping on their sides tend to develop wrinkle lines on their chin and cheeks. Men, on the other hand, who tend to sleep with their faces down on the pillow, develop wrinkle lines on their foreheads.  The AAD recommends sleeping on your back to avoid wrinkle formation.

Another key extrinsic aging factor is the sun.  Exposing your skin for a few minutes a day, unprotected to the sun’s rays can cause severe aging of the skin.  Dermatologists have named this type of aging “photoaging”. Photoaging occurs when the skin is constantly exposed to the sun’s rays and damage results in leathery skin and the loss of the skin’s ability to repair itself.

It was once believed that photoaging was irreversible, but this belief began to change after a landmark study in 1988 by John Voorhees and colleagues at the University of Michigan, showed that Retinoic Acid can repair wrinkles and improves the appearance of skin that has been damaged by photoaging. Retinoic acid is made in the body from Vitamin A, and contributes to the growth and development of cells, mainly in the embryo. Thirty years ago the Retin-A treatment was initially used for acne treatment, however, patients noticed an overall improvement of their skin appearance.

Here in our practice, our patients have enjoyed terrific results for sun-aged skin through the treatments offered by the Fraxel Re:Store Dual (the newest Fraxel) and the IPL Laser. These two devices have really made a different in our patients’ results.

We all know that nicotine is a primary ingredient in tobacco products, and is the primary agent of addiction in cigarettes. Tobacco is known to speed up the development of facial wrinkles, but a recent discovery by Italian scientists might put tobacco in the anti-wrinkle category.

Wild tobacco is known to contain high levels of proline and glycine, amino acids that are found in abundance in human collagen. In the Italian study, wild tobacco was tested on keratinocytes, a major component of the skin’s dermis, and fibroblasts, the most common cells in human connective tissue, to identify potential anti-aging properties. Not only was tobacco found to be a powerful anti-oxidant, but its mix of amino acids, sugars and peptides positively impacted skin cells at the genetic level.

Although further tests are needed to confirm power of tobacco to contribute to beautiful skin, it’s currently available in several products under the ingredient name Bionymph.

Some people just love to worship the sun. Who can blame them? A healthy glow says “I’m outdoorsy and active” or in the case of George Hamilton, “I just spent the week cruising the Cote D’Azur on my gold-plated yacht.”

However; there is a downside, and it can be steep. Too much sun exposure can lead to skin cancer, wrinkles and sunspots, none of which are sexy.

This is one of the reasons self-tanning products continue to grow in popularity. Beauty and fashion magazines tout the application process as being easy as 1-2-3. But the problem is that self-tanners fade rather quickly, providing only a temporary glow.

So what’s a born-to-be-bronze person to do?

Well back in 1991, it seemed that the problem had been solved. That’s the year the University of Arizona announced they had developed sun in a syringe, an injectable tanner that provided a flawless, all-body tan that lasted far longer than any cream or spray.

The star of their novel injectable tanning drug was a new peptide compound dubbed Melonotan, that stimulated the melanocytic cells to produce the body’s own melanin. The more melanin you have, the more bronzed you become.

While it sounds like a great scientific triumph, concerns have arisen over time about Melonotan. Recently, it’s been the subject of an urgent warning mostly due to concerns about it causing skin cancer. Which is exactly what it was supposed to prevent. This peptide has gone through extensive testing and research over the past ten years, but is still hasn’t been approved for use by the FDA or by foreign governments.

Nonetheless, injectable tanners are still available to the public (weight lifters love the year-round tan) and drug companies and others are eager to grow the market.

But the bottom line is this: top dermatologists, plastic surgeons and other medical experts, including myself, give them two big thumbs down. The risks are just too high.

Besides, if you look closely through the glamour magazines, you’ll actually notice that being pale is making a comeback. Just look at the anti-George Hamilton, Twilight’s Robert Pattinson.

More on the web:

Times Online: Are Injectable Self-Tan Safe?