Watch Out: Your Dermatoporosis May Be Showing

As a youngster I enjoyed getting under my classmates skin (nothing has changed). I would taunt "Your epidermis is showing ...". I encouraged my son to do the same and when his classmates found epidermis referred to the skin I encouraged him to taunt "Your proboscis is showing ..."
I was at the European Academy of Dermatology meeting in Munich this summer and there I learned your dermatoporosis may be showing. I mean you, yes you. With so much self-indulgence today I should think this may be a source of considerable discomfort to a great many people.
Dermatoporosis refers to a particular aging of skin which results in thinning, wrinkling, and bruising. You may have observed it in your parents, but are you ready for your own skin? New research reveals that what has been assumed to be a result of dry skin, dehydration, or hormone depletion is probably a result of hyaluronic acid enzymes that destroy hyaluronic acid, the water retaining molecules of collagen in the skin. In other words a reduction of hyaluronic acid in the skin thins the dermis so that it can no longer protect itself and causes the skin to waste away.
To be sure, many of the treatments for aging skin which have empirically been shown to be beneficial, actually increase hyaluronic acid in the skin. For instance, Photodynamic Therapy which fights skin cancer and sun damage appears to cause oxidative changes that release hyaluronic acid fragments that stimulate a molecule, CD44, which restores hyaluronic acid. Retinoids, fat transfer, hormones, and some nutrients may do the same. The ultimate irony is that hyaluronic acid fillers, Restylane and Juvederm, which are so popular for treating wrinkles and restoring youthful faces may not just be a cosmetic enhancement but a biologic rejuvenation as well.
The good and the bad: Many of the advances in medicine have come as a result of serendipity. The discovery of penicillin, the use of antihistamines, and the anti-inflammatory effects of some antibiotics are a few examples. Therefore it is not surprising that a cosmetic application of a naturally occurring product may unwittingly be a medical solution to a vexatious process: old skin. The problem is that with so much conjecture every self-seeking practitioner, whether physician or other, can lay claim to unfounded and ridiculous cures that have no basis in fact. Caveat emptor: Let the buyer beware!