Not elder law: Women’s skin ages faster than men’s

Researchers studying skin damage have found that women surpass men in one area they may wish they did not: how quickly their skin ages.

The researchers, whose article appears in the current issue of Optics Letters, were not interested in who ages better but instead were trying to develop a way to assess skin damage without having to remove a sample. Working at German research centers, they found that using experimental laser-based technology allowed them to peer several layers into the skin and assess markers of damage from sun, aging and disease.

Until now, doctors who wanted to make such evaluations had to cut out a piece of skin, the researchers said. But the new equipment allowed them to look at deep layers of skin, gauging, among other things, the levels of collagen and elastin. As those components of the skin break down, people begin to look older.

But as a general rule, the levels of collagen and elastin dropped with age. And the researchers noticed that women seemed to lose collagen more rapidly then men.

Read more in the New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/10/health/10skin.htm

Ed:  DANG!