Moisturizing skin can reduce the risk of dementia, say UC researchers

Researchers at the University of San Francisco announced this week that age-damaged skin in the elderly could contribute to a wide range of age-related chronic diseases, including heart disease and stroke. Alzheimer.

Here's what dermatology researchers have learned from their work with the San Francisco Veterans Administration Health System: As the skin ages, the immune system releases small proteins called cytokines to signal inflammation of the skin. damaged skin. These tiny inflammatory cytokines can infiltrate the circulatory system of the body and, if there is enough of them, they trigger inflammation in the body. This triggers what is called "inflammatory aging" in older adults.

"The inflammation must come from an organ big enough so that a very minor inflammation can affect the whole body. The skin is a good candidate for this because of its size, "said Dr. Mao-Qiang Man, lead author of the study. "Once we get older, we have dermatological symptoms such as itching, dryness and changes in acidity. It may be that the skin has a very minor inflammation and that it is an organ as bulky, it raises the circulating cytokine levels. "

Scientists have long wondered why there are so many inflammatory cytokines in the circulatory system of the elderly. Young people usually do not have as many. There are theories that they come from the lungs or the digestive system, said Man, but UCSF dermatologists were convinced that the culprit was the skin.

They have come up with an experiment to test this hypothesis, asking a group of older people to apply a specified amount of skin cream twice a day for 30 days. They also had groups of young people and seniors who did not use any of these lotions.

At the end of the experiment, they again measured cytokine levels in all subjects, said Man, and the elderly who used the skin cream found a dramatic reduction in three cytokines related to chronic diseases related to age. The three were interleukin-1 beta, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor.

Among adults who used the skin cream, cytokine levels almost reached that of people in their thirties. Study participants, aged 58 to 95, also reduced the acidity of their skin, improved their hydration and restored their permeability.

Although the study includes a small cohort of people, the results are promising. Now, they say, they hope others can replicate the results. The man and another researcher, Peter Elias, are consultants to the company that produced the skin cream used in the study.