When you look in the mirror, your skin is telling a story, a story about your current health and the quality of your future years. It reflects your stress levels, your sleep quality, the amount of inflammation you carry, and even your hormone balance. In many ways, your skin is a mirror of your longevity.
Despite being the largest organ in the body (skin contributes to 16% of your body weight), skin health is rarely emphasized in medical school or traditional health education. Outside of skin anatomy, skin cancers, and specific skin disorders, I’m not even sure we even talked about maintaining healthy skin in medical school or residency. Over the years, as our practice has focused more on longevity and healthspan, I’ve become increasingly interested in how skin health fits into the bigger picture of whole-body wellness. Over the next few weeks, we will be going through a series on skin health that will cover ways to best care for your skin, no matter your current stage of life.
Skin is a Window Into Your Health and Longevity
Your skin serves primarily as the first line of defense from the outside world: UV radiation, pollution, and infections. Think of it like the walls of a castle. A castle with thick, healthy stone will defend better than one made of rotting wood. Your skin is no different. But it is so much more than a physical barrier. It also serves to preserve your internal hydration status and participates in the immunity/inflammation cascade.
Skin is also a good marker for biological age, the age of your body compared to your actual age. Research shows that people who “look older” than their stated age often have higher risks of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and premature mortality. While preparing for this article, I learned that some AI systems have been trained to estimate biological age just from a facial photo. Therefore, skin is more than just vanity. It is a window into your actual health and a marker of longevity.
Signs of Unhealthy Skin
80%-90% of skin aging comes from extrinsic factors, things outside your body. Think UV radiation, pollution, smoking, poor diet, poor sleep, high stress, and high glucose levels. These factors increase skin inflammation, damages collagen, alters pigmentation, and contributes to the unhealthy appearance of skin. Typical skin symptoms of extrinsic aging include large wrinkles, mottled pigmentation, visible blood vessels on the skin (telangiectasis), and a leathery skin texture.
Only 10-20% of skin aging is related to internal factors like hormones and general skin age, things with have much less control over. These factors are more related to the gradual breakdown of skin integrity over time, contributing to fine wrinkles, thin skin, dryness, and slow wound healing. An interesting fact for women (and something we will return to later): 30% of skin thickness is lost in the first 5 years after menopause!
When comparing extrinsic to intrinsic factors for skin aging, I want you to remember that the majority of skin improvements is fully within your control!
What’s Next?
In the upcoming series we will cover strategies to improve and maintain the youthful health of your skin.
* Best sunscreen recommendations
* Advice around Retinoids and Antioxidants
* Natural ways to improve skin health
* Supplements/Advanced therapies for the skin
Even though I’m not a cosmetic dermatologist or esthetician, I have come to realize that skin is a longevity organ and an integral part of our overall health. My goal is to provide a clear pathway for all of us toward better skin health as well as practical advice around products and therapies.