True it seems, but worth the effort?

I have been known in these postings to pour scorn on, or at least be sceptical about, the idea that ageing can be defeated or delayed by applying various creams to our hard earned wrinkles. I may be less right than I thought. A B.B.C. documentary a few weeks ago endorsed an anti-ageing cream produced by Boots, the chemists found on every British high street. As a result of this the shelves were soon emptied of the retailer’s ‘No 7 Protect and Perfect anti-wrinkle serum’, containing a pro-retinol complex’.

Since then a study published in a U.S. medical journal has found that a lotion containing just 0.4% of retinol or vitamin A (or pro-retinal compounds from which the vitamin is derived) fights the signs of ageing. This was proved by the ‘significant rejuvenating’ effect on a group of volunteers. They were smothered with retinol cream on one arm and an inert lotion on the other. Wrinkles, roughness and severity of ageing were markedly lower on the treated arms. Analysis of tissue samples afterwards showed apparently that retinol increased the production of two structural components of the skin which reduce wrinkles.

Dr. Nick Lowe, consultant dermatologist at the Cranley Clinic in London, has said of the experiment that it provides the first scientific evidence that retinol vitamin A cream can have an impact on wrinkles. He added a cautionary note, ‘ creams do take time to work’. The treatment however has to be used with care it seems, because it can cause redness and irritation, and sensitise the skin to sunlight whilst in pregnant women, excessive vitamin A has been associated with birth defects. Which means I suppose that if your are expecting a baby, live with your wrinkles, and if you are older and take the treatment, don’t go out in the sunshine.

I found out this information on the front page of a freebie newspaper and have merely repeated the information it conveys. But it does make we wonder if it’s all worth the effort, this fight to defy the signs of ageing. Never mind the signs, it doesn’t affect the fact that ageing exists!

B.R.