Understanding Anti-Aging Hormones: Benefits & Impact on Skin & Hair

The term ‘aging’ is typically used when our skin starts showing the first signs of wear and tear. These days, the signs can start appearing as early as the mid-20s. Hair fall, thinning of hair, pigmentation, dull and patchy skin and fine lines are all signs of ageing. Today, with pollution, UV radiation and rampant use of chemicals, most of us face these signs quite early in life.

Anti aging hormones: What they are?

Hormones are natural chemicals that take care of biological processes like growth, reproduction, immunity and digestion. Any imbalance in these chemicals can lead to various hormonal disorders.

Some hormones produced in the body are:

• Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA): turns into estrogen and testosterone
• Human growth hormone (HGH): regulates growth and maintains tissues
• Insulin: maintains glucose levels
• Melatonin: maintains sleep/wake cycle

It is Melatonin, as per scientists, which is the main anti aging hormone.

How They Work:

A lot of research is being done in anti-ageing hormone therapy. It deals not only with giving you better looking skin, but also involves the extension of the human lifespan. Life extension research, as it is called, involves nutrition and hormone treatments. While nutrition includes special diets and supplements, hormone treatments are much more complex.

Hormone treatments involve the adjustment of the main ageing hormones. These are DHEA, Testosterone, Estrogen, Progesterone, Melatonin and Pregnenolone. These may be naturally extracted or synthetically produced. The introduction of each of these hormones has a systemic effect on various organs and body processes.

• DHEA: reduces weight, delays menopause, improves muscle mass and boosts the immune system.
• Testosterone: improves muscle mass, bone density, sperm production, RBC production and maintains fat distribution.
• Estrogen: increases the synthesis of collagen which makes the skin look younger, prevents skin ageing and improves and retains the moisture content in the skin.
• Progesterone: enhances the immune system and maintains reproductive life in women. It also strengthens brain functioning.
• Melatonin: this is the body’s own anti-oxidant, hence very crucial for maintaining vitality. Its use boosts the sleep cycle, prevents cardiovascular disorders, regulates the immune system and protects tissues from damage
• Pregnenolone: balances the body’s reaction to stress and fatigue, controls cholesterol levels, improves memory, enhances energy and prevents coronary heart disease.

Besides these individual effects, most of these hormones help in reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. They are also effective in boosting the immune system. Research is still on in proving their efficacy in reversing the effects of age.

[Read:Teenage and Hormones]

The Flip Side:

Reading about these anti-ageing treatments may want you to try out that anti-ageing product right away. But there are negatives as well:

• Keep in mind that these are indeed hormones, and messing around too much may have disastrous effects.
• Their use has surely proved to enhance the quality of life, or our perception of it. But if overused or incorrectly used, they can wreak havoc in the very body systems that they are supposedly enhancing.
• Hormone therapy for reversing the effects of ageing has legal issues behind it.

To sum up, anti aging hormone therapy must be used and its effects enjoyed with caution. If you feel age is taking a toll on you and showing on your skin, it’s best to consult an expert. Avoid treating yourself to any over-the-counter medications that can do more harm than good!