Human skin through the ages

Abstract

As the largest organ of the human body the skin offers a protective role, providing a tough but pliable covering that provides the major barrier between the internal organs and the environment. It actively regulates water loss and is both oxygen and carbon dioxide permeable, and influences temperature regulation and immunological functions through its sensory properties. Both intrinsic and enhanced environmental factors contribute to the progressive deterioration of the skin with increasing age. Cutaneous problems are therefore an unavoidable and inevitable consequence of aging skin, which can prove to be both cosmetically unacceptable to those who succumb to these problems, as well as even life threatening if skin breakdown becomes chronic as is case with leg ulceration. This in turn has major implications for long-term impact on those looking after them (e.g., family, carers, etc.) and a huge burden on the health care system.

Keywords: Aging; Barrier function; Human skin.