Protection from photo-ageing via COSSMA
15 February 2019
The sun has always been a symbol of life.
However, we increasingly are becoming aware of the fact that the amount of sun rays we are exposed to is one of the biggest environmental impacts on us, with both positive and negative effects on our health. Sun exposure should be a natural gift to us.
The downside, however, is that too much sun exposure can severely damage our skin1. It can lead to photo-ageing and can also cause malignant melanoma (skin cancer). As it is really difficult to know when skin cells are damaged – that is, their DNA is damaged – the use of sunscreens alone may not provide adequate protection against harmful UVA and UVB rays.
Causes of photo-ageing
Photo-ageing is mainly caused by the rays of the sun and leads to a number of symptoms. An estimated 90% of premature ageing is caused by exposure to sunlight2.
Photo-ageing is not just a myth. There is evidence that photo-ageing occurs, even when the skin is not obviously damaged. A man who worked as a delivery truck driver for 28 years was exposed to strong light from the left3. This caused significantly more wrinkles and sagging skin as the photo shows. We can assume that this type of photo-ageing was indeed caused by sun light.
We clearly need to differentiate between photo-ageing and more severe consequences of sun exposure, such as various forms of skin cancer, e.g. melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma.
Follow us on Linkedin!