The Impact of Aging on Skin Healing

Skin heals poorly in old people, the consequence of mechanisms of aging such as the growing number of senescent cells present in aged tissues. Senescent cells are normally generated for a short period of time during wound healing and their pro-growth, pro-inflammatory signals help to coordinate the intricate dance of cell populations involved in regrowth following injury. The constant presence of senescent cells and their signals is disruptive to the healing process, however. As noted in this review paper, a number of other mechanisms are also relevant to the declining capacity for regeneration of skin in older people. Skin is the human's largest organ and consists of three distinctive layers, the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis. Skin is equipped with an innate immune response towards tissue injury, with the aim to restore normal tissue structure and function. The normal wound healing process comprises three distinctive stages, inflammation, reepithelialization, and tissue remodelling. The balance between inflammation and its control is essential to maintain a normal wound healing process. This is because acute inflammation at the early stage of wound healing is beneficial in removing cell debris and invading microbes. However, if the inflammation state is prolonged, this will lead to further destruction of adjacent cells and eventually inhibit wound healing. Aging causes more platelets to adhere to the injured epithelium. This will cause the production of m...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs