Photoaging: etiology, pathogenesis, clinic

According to statistics, for the years 2015–2017, half of all appeals to dermatologists are related to skin color disorders. About 94% of patients in the 40-60 age group voiced the main complaint - the appearance of pigment spots on the skin (seasonal pigmentation of the skin of the face, shoulders, décolleté). Let's take a detailed look at the causes of skin photodamage and methods of their prevention.

So what processes does excessive and irrational sunbathing trigger in the human body?

Etiopathogenetic links of the photoaging process

The leading factor in the occurrence of photoaging is undoubtedly the effect of UV rays on the skin, as well as adverse factors of the external environment, which lead to morphofunctional changes in the microscopic and biochemical structure of the epidermis and dermis.

Photobiology of the skin. Depending on the wavelength, the sun's ultraviolet rays interact with different skin cells located at different depths.

In the pathogenesis of photoaging, several directions of UFO action should be noted:

• on the DNA of cells - leads to mutation with possible subsequent oncogenesis or premature cell death;
• on the structural proteins of the dermis, causing their coagulation, which, in turn, leads to a violation of the spring-elastic properties of the dermis;
• on water molecules, causing the degradation of its molecule and, ultimately, dehydration of the dermis.

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