Monthly Archives: September 2012

Melanoma resistant to chemotherapy is genetic – but protection is not

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Melanoma has always been difficult to control because it adapts and mutates quickly – even in the face of severe chemotherapy that usually controls and stops other forms of cancer. There are genes in Melanoma cells that tolerate damage caused by chemotherapy and thus refuse to die – and just keep on replicating – so quickly spreading cancer throughout the body. Read the article.

Melanoma is a serious skin cancer that is usually enabled by extensive sun damage over our lives – but it is not limited to older people, it afflicts many young people too…..this is the reason why mineral based sunscreens are so critical for protecting your skin and body from developing melanoma and other forms of skin cancer like basal and squamous cell carcinomas.

Apply a mineral sunscreen everyday….not just in summer or on sunny days….but every day. UV rays from the sun come through clouds, fog, windows and will impact your skin every single day of your life. Yes sun derived UV rays are good for you too…but in small doses, so the high dose rays from being out in the ‘daylight’ a lot, or, worse still – lying in a tanning bed, will increase your chances of developing dangerous skin cancers.

Cell Youth Actif has plant based enzymes that help your natural DNA repair process in your skin and thus stimulates repair after sun exposure and sun damage. A mineral sunscreen and Cell Youth Actif are a great combination for helping slow down the visible signs of aging in the skin.

The information provided here is not meant to diagnose or cure any medical conditions. Please see your doctor or a trained medical professional should you have any concerns.

Healing the skin after tattoo removal

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The business of tattoo removal is growing, and according to this recent news report in the WSJ, many feel it will just keep growing…..

As with any trauma to the skin (whether it be surgery, accidental abrasion, or selective abrasion – like laser peels, microdermabrasion, chemical peels) the goal is to help the skin heal quickly and with as little scarring as possible. Removing tattoos will need the same skin healing treatment.

For young skin, many can get by with just applying a layer of petrolatum (petroleum jelly marketing under brand names vaseline and aquaphor) as this occlusive layer keeps moisture in the skin and moisture is essential to the healing process (remember to apply any anti-bacterial creams on the wound before applying vaseline over it). Drying the wound can happen after at least a week – if you dry it out before then, harder scar tissue will likely form and a deeper, more visible scar will be left.

For older skin (after age 35) we need to give it a lot more help to heal and repair without leaving a major scar behind. Here is my recommended home care regimen for most types of wound healing.

The information provided here is not meant to diagnose or cure any medical conditions. Please see your doctor or a trained medical professional should you have any concerns.

DNA in skin care

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Every cell in your skin has the unique DNA codes that you have in all other cells in your unique body, but DNA in the skin is more easily damaged than in other cells in your body due to it’s exposure to UV rays from the sun. We live on THIS planet which means the UVA and UVB rays from the sun penetrate our skin EVERY SINGLE DAY.

If we limit our exposure to any form of daylight, we will limit DNA damage to skin cells. However, we need some exposure to daylight in order to enable our skin to turn 7-dihydrocholesterol into Vitamin D3 – an essential vitamin for the health of the whole body.

Sunscreens are not sunblocks because there is nothing you can apply to your skin that can block out all the sun’s rays. A mineral based sunscreen is therefore the best FIRST STEP to protect your skin from excessive DNA damage due to UV rays from the sun.

The genetic coding of your DNA means that the ‘system’ has checks and balances built in to ensure that damage can be repaired as best as possible, so generally most people (especially when we are young) will have DNA damaged cells repaired or killed off and in so doing avert the dangerous genetic mutations that can result in skin cancers.

Helping our skin cells repair it’s UV induced DNA damage can be done topically through purified enzymes from the Mediterranean Aribidopsis plant as found in Cell Youth Actif. These enzymes don’t go in and start fixing your DNA, as with all enzymes they are merely catalysts to an action….so they start the ball rolling and your natural repair mechanisms will kick-in and do the work they are supposed to do. This becomes very important as we age because our repair mechanisms naturally become less active. To learn more about the DNA repair process see this Wikipedia entry.

Can DNA be applied topically to your skin and then penetrate and thus change your resident DNA? Absolutely not – only in science fiction. So products claiming to contain DNA (or the chemical messenger RNA) are going to be full of marketing hype and very short on scientific action.

Since the human genome was mapped, this century started out with a lot of excitement about how we will be able to eliminate all lethal diseases known to mankind simply by changing the genes responsible for those illnesses. This seemed theoretically possible seeing as a very small percentage (less than 2%) of our genes actually do any ‘real’ work in terms of coding for all the myriad of proteins needed in our body to function….and of course if some of those proteins are not properly formed then we get disease and medical disorders. Proteins make up most of the trillions of cells in the human body….so they are a BIG deal!

Well, it appears that the human genome is even more complicated than previously thought, and that the majority of the genes that were non coding (and therefore classified as JUNK) are actually pretty instrumental in enabling disease and disorders. For more information on this read this really interesting report on the latest scientific discoveries.

And it does not stop there, the epigenome (markers attached to the genome) will also affect the functioning of the genes and the production of proteins. The epigenome is thought to be ‘shorter’ term related and can change due to experiential activities in our lifetime or that of our parents or grandparents.

All in all, DNA in skin care is complex, and simple marketing messages are more hype than fact. So, eat a healthy organic diet, treat your body well, reduce the potentials for DNA damage, and be happy….

The information provided here is not meant to diagnose or cure any medical conditions. Please see your doctor or a trained medical professional should you have any concerns.

Honey is not antibacterial for your skin

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Many marketers will incorrectly tout honey as an antibacterial ingredient ideal for skin care applications…well honey itself is a self preserved commodity and thus very few known bacteria will develop in honey…..but it does not kill off bacteria nor does it prevent bacteria from forming in other ingredients of a ‘honey-based’ skin care product.

Here is how it works…. Honey is highly saturated fructose and glucose and with miniscule amounts of water it means bacteria have no opportunity to grow in it. Bacteria require a water base in order to grow and multiply (so fruit, vegetables, all animal bodies etc, are perfect environments for bacterial growth – the water content is high). Find out more about honey at Wikipedia.org.

The problem that many ‘honey-marketers’ forget about is that honey can draw moisture out of the air, and thus develop a higher water content that will at some point be ‘liquid’ enough for bacterial growth. When honey is mixed in with other skin care ingredients, water usually makes up the bulk of so many skin care products, so the ability of honey to resist bacteria is dramatically reduced. These formulations still need to include anti bacterial and anti fungal preservatives in order to make them safe for you to use on your skin and store in your home.

For anti bacterial effectiveness try a colloidal sulfur like clear-it. Sulfur is wonderfully antibacterial.

If you want something soothing – then honey is a good solution….on the skin as well as internally. The pH of honey averages at 3.4pH which means it is a lower pH than your skin so irritated and sensitive skin may feel more tingling/stinging than soothing when honey is applied to the skin. For something really soothing try r-relief or instant calm ultra complex.

Why does the forehead often feel very oily?

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If it is not due to very active sebaceous glands in the forehead area producing a lot of sebum (oil) then very often we feel very oily in the forehead area due to hair products. Shampoos and conditioners contain ingredients designed to coat the hair shaft – so making it soft and flexible and shiny….but these same ingredients are not ideal for the skin – often leaving a residue on the skin after you have completed your shampoo and conditioning activity in the shower. This residue (often they are silicone ingredients) makes the skin feel and look oily. To get around this, cleanse your skin with cool water and a gentle cleanser AFTER shampooing and conditioning your hair.

If your shampoo contains detergents, then, similar to detergent skin cleansers, they will strip your natural moisturizer (oil) out of your hair and if the shampoo covers your forehead (as is typically the case) then the shampoo detergents are stripping your skin moisturizer as well. This stripping action just sets the ball in motion for further (rapid) oil production by the sebaceous glands to compensate for what you just did.

Other hair products like styling gels and pomades as well as hair spray contain strong conditioning ingredients that give you an ‘oily-feeling and looking’ forehead by mid-day. Try using less product in your hair and see if the oily look goes away or is reduced.

Similar to using hot water on the skin, hot water on the hair and scalp will strip your natural moisturizer (oil) and thus stimulate the sebaceous glands to produce a whole lot more to compensate for what you just did to it. Your sebaceous glands will produce more oil even if you have masses of moisturizer/conditioner on the skin/hair….. YOU HAVE TO START USING COOL WATER on skin and hair if you want to reduce this stripping and reactive production cycle with your natural moisturizer created in your sebaceous glands.