Everyone wants to reduce wrinkles, especially women. But leaving aside the appearance issue, wrinkles also tell a lot about the overall health of the connective tissue in a person. Not long ago, I told you about a Yale study that showed that wrinkles are often an indicator of poor bone strength. The fewer wrinkles you have, the better the likelihood that your bones are stronger than your more wrinkly friends.
New Study : Reduce Wrinkles By Replacing Hormone Levels
Now I want to tell you about another study. This one indicates that women who replace their sagging hormone levels as they age actually have about one half as many wrinkles as those who choose not to.
The researchers in this study looked at 20 post menopausal women. The important characteristics of the women such as age, race, sun exposure, sunscreen use, tobacco use, and skin type were all similar. All of these women had been in menopause for at least five years. Nine of them had used hormone replacement for an extended period of time. The other eleven had never had any hormone replacement.
Then the women had their wrinkles assessed by a plastic surgeon. He had no idea which women were replacing their hormones and which were not.
He used a measuring scale called the Lemperle scale. He also measured the rigidity of the skin using a durometer. What they found is good news for women on bio-identical hormone replacement.
Overall skin rigidity was decreased significantly in the hormone users compared to nonusers. That means that their skin was softer and looked better. Specifically, the skin over the cheeks of the hormone users was almost three times less rigid than that of the non-hormone group. But that’s not all.
The average wrinkle scores in the hormone users were almost half as big as the scores of those in the hormone deficient group.
The authors concluded, “Long-term postmenopausal hormone therapy users have more elastic skin and less severe wrinkling than women who have never used hormone therapy.” And one last thought.
Although the authors did not state whether or not any of the women were using bio-identical hormones, I think it’s safe to assume that none of them were. If that is true, I will virtually guarantee you that the results would have been even better had they all been taking properly balanced bio-identical hormones instead of the synthetic wonders.
I can say this with confidence because there is a previous study that looked specifically at the effect of synthetic hormones on the skin.
This study looked at women on the synthetic hormones for only one year, as opposed to the much longer use in this study. The results showed that the synthetic hormones had no effect at all on skin collagen content, collagen structure, or skin thickness.
Obviously, the synthetic hormones take much longer to work on your skin. Unfortunately, they also raise your cancer risk. The bio-identical hormones help your skin much faster — and don’t increase your cancer risk.
So if you want to reduce wrinkles, don’t hesitate to talk to your doctor about bio-identical hormones. They work.
REF:
Wolff EF, Narayan D, Taylor HS. Long-term effects of hormone therapy on skin rigidity and wrinkles. Fertil Steril. 2005 Aug;84(2):285-8.
Haapasaari KM, Raudaskoski T, Kallioinen M, et al. Systemic therapy with estrogen or estrogen with progestin has no effect on skin collagen in postmenopausal women. Maturitas. 1997 Jun;27(2):153-62.
Dr. Shallenberger has practiced medicine for more than 35 years, and has his own wellness clinic, The Nevada Center for Alternative and Anti-Aging Medicine. Dr. Shallenberger also writes the monthly newsletter Real Cures. For information about Real Cures Letter, visit the website at http://www.RealCuresLetter.com