Todays ardent young man would recoil if he were shown his own portrait in old age, said a famous Ukrainian writer Mykola Gogol. Still, why are we all so much afraid of any sign of age? Perhaps, the same author would have answered this question, if he had managed to live to see his own old age. Unfortunately for us, he passed away under the mysterious circumstances being quite young.
These days, trying to find the answer, we can only make suggestions, like people are afraid of feeling lonely and abandoned, or elderly can sense the approaching of death. Both statements are truthful; but there can be one more very simple explanation with high degree of probability: all of us are afraid to lose the looks. Appearance means so much to us that grey hair and wrinkled skin spike fear in our souls.
Maybe, if we understand the process and causes of aging better, it will be easier for us to get prepared to this unavoidable phenomenon. Let us talk of skin mainly, because this is the most prominent part of our body, where aging can easily be seen (besides grey hair, of course).
First of all, it should be noted that skin aging starts at ones mid-20s. However, in spite of the proven fact that the devastating changes take place, they usually cannot be seen till a person is about 40. Although varying in every individual, this age is commonly associated with the first really visible signs of skin aging. Wrinkled, sagged, thin, dry, and spotted skin - these are the results of time and life influence on the state of our body covering.
Two types of skin aging scientists usually talk about: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic skin aging is also called internal, meaning the inner changes, which take place in the body due to age. Extrinsic includes a number of factors outside the body - the surrounding environment, life conditions, etc.
Intrinsic aging is a genetically predisposed natural process, which is observed in the hormonal changes, weakening of the immune system, decrease in cell renewal, and so on. With age skin becomes: - less elastic, because of the slower collagen and elastin production; - thinner, because of the decreased amount of fat; - unhealthy, since dead skin cells do not shed normally any more and new cells need more time to be formed (besides, abnormally shaped cells formation often takes place); - dry and itching, as water retaining and texture-enhancing elements in the skin structure (sweat and oil glands) become exhausted; - old, because of the free radicals damage within the immune system, which, however, is always reflected on the skin surface.
Extrinsic factors of skin aging are: - ultraviolet (UV) sun rays, which ruin collagen and elastin. The process of skin damaging by sun exposure is called photoaging or photodamage. It makes skin look freckled, spotted, rough, leathery and wrinkled; - gravity, which pulls on our skin, making it sagged; - mimics: frowning and smiling, yawning and screwing up our eyes leave fine wrinkles on the facial skin with the lapse of time due to the lack of elastin and loss of firmness;
The worst thing is that all these factors (both intrinsic and extrinsic) work in cooperation aiming to affect our looks and steal away the beauty of the human body. Nevertheless, it would be absolutely reasonable to support Monten, who said that we must beware of our souls aging rather than wrinkles on our faces. After all, soul and mind are far more precious than the appearance.
Ivanna
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