Is gold the new buzzword in skin creams?

According to legend, 5,000 years ago, Cleopatra slept in a gold face mask every night because she believed it made her skin luminous and soft. Whether that was true or not, Cleopatra is said to have had beautiful skin. But then again, in that day and age, women lived to a ripe old age of 30-something, so who is to know. Cleopatra herself lived only to 39.

Many new skin products coming on the market contain gold particles, reported to tighten loose skin, reduce discoloration and ward off the sun’s damaging UV rays. Unfortunately, there are no studies that have documented these claims, and the creams are enormously expensive, as you might guess.

The truth is, few skin care ingredients have been proven to create real results in skin tone, texture and luminosity. Among them are Retin-A. Laser skin rejuvenation, microdermabrasion and chemical peels have also been proven to rejuvenate collagen beneath the skin and create a much smoother, more youthful appearance. 

Those with vitiligo may experience less skin cancer

How often have you heard the phrase, "Always wear sunscreen!"? Often, right? It's the mantra repeated by dermatologists, plastic surgeons and skincare experts all over the world. Well, in an interesting turn of events, a recent study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that people with vitiligo (a chronic skin problem that removes the pigmentation from patches of their skin) are a bit more immune to skin cancer than the rest of us.

The University of London study involved 4300 men and women, some of whom had vitiligo and some who did not, in an attempt to identify gene patterns to help them know who "might" get vitiligo based on their genetic makeup. What they found were 7 genes connected to vitiligo. There were 2 possible combinations of these 7 genes: one gene pattern for those who had vitiligo and another for those who did not. Oddly, all 4300 tested had one of the two combinations of these 7 genes. Those likely to develop vitiligo had a gene combination that simultaneously decreased their risk of skin cancer, while those with a gene combination that increased their risk of skin cancer also showed a decreased risk of vitiligo.

In laypersons' terms, it means that even if you have the genes most likely to develop vitiligo, that doesn't guarantee that you'll develop it. In fact, only about 1% of the world's population has vitiligo. It just means that you may be more susceptible to getting it--but at the same time, you still have a decreased likelihood of developing skin cancer.

This is important news for those with vitiligo, for whom few treatments really do much good, other than depigmenting the rest of the body to match those areas that have lost pigmentation. Narrow band light has shown to be of some help but other than blister treatments, tattooing and skin grafting, little help is available to most people with this skin disorder.

To your health & beauty,

Dr. Joe Danyo

LED Light And Green Tea Cream Smooth Facial Wrinkles

According to Science Daily, researchers in Germany report a major improvement in a potential treatment for wrinkles that could ultimately be an adjunct to Botox, dermal fillers and cosmetic surgery. The non-invasive wrinkle treatment combines high-intensity light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a lotion made of green tea extract. According to researchers Andrei Sommer and Dan Zhu, the combination of green tea extract and LEDs is ten times faster at removing wrinkles than a similar anti-wrinkle treatment using LEDs.

Physicians have used light therapy, also known as photo therapy, for almost 50 years to heal wounds and combat skin aging. However, LED lights, much like those used in computers, have also been shown to reduce skin wrinkles when applied daily. Unfortunately, a byproduct of such extensive exposure to LEDs is the risk of cell damage. As a response, epigallocatechin, a potent antioxidant in green tea, is applied in a cream to counteract the potential for cell damage.

Researchers daily applied a LED light and green tea extract to the facial wrinkles of a human volunteer over a period of one month. The treatment resulted in smoother skin, including "less pronounced wrinkle levels, shorter wrinkle valleys, and juvenile complexion," according to the scientists. Not only could this study form the basis of a new facial rejuvenation protocol, it could lead to better understanding of cellular aging.