Vitamin C is ascorbic acid and is naturally found in nature, while some animals have the ability to produce their own vitamin C, human beings do not produce vitamin C themselves and are totally reliant on the vitamin C they get in their diets. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin and we do not have large stores of vitamin C in our body. If we don't eat vitamin C then within about six weeks we develop the signs of deficiency of vitamin C, that is scurvy. Vitamin C is normally deposited in the skin and is an essential part of the anti-oxidant brigade to protect skin against free radical assault from the atmosphere and from ultra violet light. ...
Vitamin A is the dominant vitamin of the skin because it has a fundamental role in the control of normal activities of skin cells. Vitamin A is of great importance in controlling normal activities of the DNA of the nucleus of the cell as well as the mitochondria. Current scientific research work is uncovering the complex means by which DNA maintains the normal activities of skin cells. ...
There has been a resurgence of interest in iontophoresis in the medical profession. Why call it a renaissance of iontophoresis in this day and age? We've known about galvanic current for about 200 hundred years and iontophoresis (a word derived from Greek meaning the transport of electrically charged chemicals called ions) through skin was demonstrated almost 100 years ago. ...
Welcome to some ideas from Cape Town South Africa. My name is Des Fernandes and I am a plastic surgeon concentrating on head and neck surgery. I might be in the minority position right now, but I believe that we have to look for alternatives to laser re-surfacing of the skin. I'd like to present my 2-year experience of an alternative method to laser re-surfacing and dermabrasion. Those techniques destroy the epidermis in order to create denser fibrosis in the dermis. ...
Skin care has now become scientifically based and is no longer simply hope and magic. As we understand more and more about the physiology of the skin, we also learn how to maintain skin in better health, and as a result, slow down the process of ageing. Vitamin A has long been known to be the essential vitamin for healthy skin and as time passes we are learning more about how it acts on the DNA to promote healthy keratinocytes, with a better horny layer, reduction of excessive pigmentation and increased collagen and elastin formation. ...
By Desmond Femandes MB, Bch, FRCS (Edin), a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon practicing in Cape Town and Consultant in Charge of the Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital. Dr Des Femandes initially trained as a Cardiac Surgeon and was part of Professor Christian Barnard's Team. Dr Fernandes has taken a keen interest in skin cancer since the early reports of the 'ozone hole' over the Antarctic. As a result of his interest, he came to the conclusion that skin cancer and ageing wrinkled skin are simply two manifestations of the same disease. When he realized that there were no suitable products available to address the light-induced deficiency of vitamins A, C, E and beta-carotene in the skin, he created a factory specifically to make the 'ideal cosmetic.' ...
My concern for skin cancer in the early 1980's was the reason why I started research that eventually lead to the Environ Original range. I knew from my experience, and also from statistics, that skin cancer was increasing and it seemed a logical idea to attribute this to the then newly discovered 'ozone hole'. I also knew that attempts to stop the damage to the "ozone hole" would not start to take effect until well into the 21st Century. Therefore, we had to do something to protect our skins. ...
The company was founded by Dr. Fernandes in 1990 and initially operated from small premises comprising a few rooms, a chemist and a handful of staff members manufacturing only two creams. The company soon expanded their products into a full skin care range and with the expansion came larger premises, a training school and an increased staff compliment. ...
I believe skin care is going to radically change in the next ten years. More and more people are going to realise the value of scientific skin care and the market will grow exponentially. Currently there are a number of delusions about skin care. ...
Vitamins and antioxidants are tilling an expanding role in medicine and we need to understand the value of topical vitamins A, C and other antioxidants in our work. Free radicals have an important role in creating work for the aesthetic surgeon and also in destroying the efforts of reconstructive plastic surgeons therefore plastic and reconstructive surgeons need to know as much as we can about free radicals and especially about how to counteract their effects. ...
Because of my association with skin care products based on vitamin A and antioxidants, I am frequently asked about the safety of using topical vitamin A in pregnancy. It seems that many general practitioners and dermatologists advise patients to abstain from using vitamin A based products for fear of inducing a foetal abnormality. ...
When I originally formulated products I worried about preservatives because they have a tendency to irritate skin and Environ made its mark in the cosmetic world by manufacturing products without any preservatives such as the parabens, phenoxyethanol etc. We are extremely proud to run a factory with a compounding department of such highly sanitised systems that would easily equate to an operating theatre. ...
Molecules which are active in human physiology largely function as keys in locks. The active molecule is then called a ligand and the lock a receptor. The structures of both are highly specific to the degree that if one atom is positioned in a different position than that required by the receptor to be activated, then no stimulation of the receptor or only partial activation can take place. ...
Rosacea is a chronic skin problem that is not well understood and characteristically affects people with pale skins, blue eyes and generally starts in middle age. People with darker skins also get rosacea, but the signs are less florid. It is always associated with redness of the skin, often with small papules (or lumps) which may becomes pustules. It may resemble acne but if you look closely at the skin, you will not see any blackheads. The skin feels uncomfortable and usually the central areas of the face are involved. ...