Aging is a natural process of biochemical events.  It is a process that leads to the gradual accumulation of damage to cells.

Although the manifestations of the damage are not obvious on appearances as far as the inner organs are concerned, the skin surface shows clearly the process.

The skin has long been recognized to protect organisms against deleterious environmental factors.  It is vital for the homeostasis of temperature, electrolyte, and fluid balance of your body.

The aging process is complex biologically.  It comprises many factors such as genetic, cellular metabolic, and hormonal alterations.  This can be called intrinsic aging.  And there are external factors, such as ultraviolet (UV) light exposure and secondarily chemicals, toxins, and pollution.

The process for the internal is skin deriving from areas that are not sun-exposed, mostly the inner side of the upper arm and the buttocks. For the external are skin areas constantly exposed to sun, such as facial skin.  Intrinsically aged skin appears thin and dry and with reduced elasticity.  On the contrary, external aged skin shows deep wrinkles, thickening of the epidermis, dullness, and roughness. 

Main Causes of Aging

Skin stem cell aging

Stem cells are cells that have the ability to self-renew by undergoing multiple cycles of self-division while retaining their natures.

Embryonic stem cells are multipotent cells and are able to give rise to all other cell types, whereas adult stem cells’ potentials are much more restricted potentials. 

As far as the skin is concerned, epidermal stem cells are known to produce transient amplifying cells.  Dermal stem cells are also of great importance for skin homeostasis because they produce the progeny responsible for growth factors. 

Because they comprise the pool of tissue regeneration, stem cells are in the focus of aging research as a potential target of intrinsic and extrinsic aging factors, which could potentially affect the number and function of these cells. 

The turnover rate is generally 28 days in young individuals.   But it varies between 40 and 60 days in the elderly. Epidermal stem cells are considered unique in comparison with other adult stem cells in their ability to resist aging.

Interestingly, stem cell numbers do not necessarily decline with age.  But their functional ability to produce differentiated progeny decreases with aging.

Hormonal alterations 

One of the major factors influencing internal aging is the progressive decrease of various hormone levels at aging.  The change of hormone causes changes on the surface of the skin.

The various hormones have effects on the speed of aging.  Skin is a major target and source of hormones and the correlation of its phenotype with altered hormone levels can provide insights to other hormone decline-associated comorbidities.

Chronic Sun Damage

Chronic sun damage of the skin is the prime factor leading to skin aging, exerting its manifestations through induction of DNA damage and UV-mediated reactive oxygen species.

Spots, blotches, and wrinkles that show up over time are really signs of the sun’s damage to your skin. So is a suntan. The sun’s beams bring out a chemical in your body associated with melanin, which darkens your skin, part of an effort to protect it.

Smoking

Exposure to tobacco smoke is also a widely accepted factor that accelerates extrinsic aging processes.

Tobacco damages skin in a variety of ways.  It affects skin’s elasticity, texture, color, and even its chemical makeup. These injuries leave skin more vulnerable to cancer such as squamous cell carcinoma as well as non-cancerous psoriasis. 

What's more, smoking has been shown to impede wound healing and even worsen skin conditions like eczema. People exposed to second-hand smoke also face a greater risk of these skin problems.

Smokers also often have yellowish or grayish skin, which is referred to as “smoker’s melanosis.”

Glycation: Sugar and Aging

Glycation is the term of a natural process.  The sugar in your bloodstream attaches to proteins, which forms harmful new molecules called advanced glycation end products.

There are lots of research conducted to understand how glycation affects aging.  It’s not necessarily accurate to draw a conclusion that “sugar causes wrinkles.”   There are complex biological processes that cause aging other than sugar. 

Research shows that too much glycation may affect collagen you can build, which is a major factor of the level of resistant your skin will wrinkle.  People with diabetes often show the signs of premature aging because they have years with undetected high blood sugar that cause them to physically age faster.  The damaging effects of sugar can have on your appearances are clearly evident in people with diabetics who have a hard time controlling their blood-sugar levels. 

Glycation, which occurs when insulin doesn't metabolize sugars properly, destroys the collagen in blood vessels (collagen is a structural protein found all over the body, not just in the skin) and ultimately causes it to become brittle and form plaque. 

In sum, there are many factors contribute to the speed of aging.  The deterioration of important skin functions, due to intrinsic and extrinsic aging, leads to clinical manifestations, which mirror several internal age-associated diseases such as diabetes, arterial hypertension, and malignancies.

Five Anti-Aging Tips from Dr. Oz

Dr. Oz discussed the tips of anti-aging in an interview with Good Housekeeping magazine. Per Dr. Oz, the key points of anti-aging are as follows:

1. Manage hypertension 

Stay out of high blood pressure so not to do damage to the lining of your artery. That way your body does not need to repair the damages which cause aging.

2.  Choose a diet you love

It is important to choose a way of diet that you love; otherwise you won't stay on it and you will stop doing it. In a diet, vegetables and fruits that have deep colors are the best. Omega-3 supports your brain and makes yourself think younger.

3.  Do not smoke

Smoking is a damaging factor to your health as everyone knows.

4.  Have an exercise plan that makes sense to you

Keep on excreting in a regular manner. Proper exercising keeps your body staying healthy and younger.

5.  Have a stress managing program

The best way is to do deep breathing. You can do 4 ins and 4 outs in a set. When you do it properly, it reduces your stress and can slow down the aging process.

We can impact the rate of aging by incorporating side factors of aging and doing the right things. If we can do just one thing today to slow down the aging process, Dr. Oz concluded that it would be doing regular exercise.