Skin Repair Reduces Chronic Disease-Linked ‘Inflammation’
The cream was applied twice daily to the skin of 33 older adults aged between 58 and 95 for 30 days. After a month, the researchers measured blood levels of three cytokines–interleukin-1 beta, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha–that have all been implicated in age-related inflammatory diseases. The cream significantly reduced levels of the three cytokines, compared with both levels prior to using it and levels of similar aged adults who didn’t use it. In fact, the cream reduced the participants’ cytokine level to a level that was almost equivalent to people in their 30s. This suggests that rejuvenating skin can reverse the \”inflammaging\”.
Scientists at UC San Francisco, the San Francisco Veterans Administration Health Care System and the University of California San Francisco believe that the skin is the largest organ in the body and may be responsible for the widespread inflammation associated with chronic diseases. According to a clinical pilot study, properly moisturizing the skin can lower inflammation and prevent age-related illnesses.
As humans get older, we experience a low-level of inflammation–dubbed \”inflamm-aging\”–driven by an increase in molecules in the blood called cytokines. The age-related inflammation is linked to chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Scientists thought the inflammation was caused by the immune system or liver. However, a group dermatologists from UCSF has a different theory.
The inflammation must originate from a large enough organ to affect the entire body. The skin is a great candidate because of its size,\” explained Mao-Qiang Man MD, a senior author of the study. He is a researcher in the UCSF Department of Dermatology and is a visiting Professor at Southern Medical University, Guangzhou in China. As we age, we experience dermatological symptoms such as itchiness, changes in acidity, and dryness. It may be that there is a very small amount of inflammation in the skin, but because it’s a large organ, it increases circulating cytokine.
Source:
https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2019/03/413576/skin-repair-eliminates-inflamm-aging-linked-chronic-disease
