1. Some interesting facts about healthy skin
2. What are the six main functions of the skin?
Sensation, protection, heat regulation, excretion, secretion, and absorption
3. What is the barrier function?
The mechanism that protects the skin from irritation and intercellular transepidermal water loss
4. How does sebum protect the skin?
Sebum is an oily substance that coats the surface of the skin to slow water evaporation, maintain water levels in skin cells, and keep the skin soft and protected from outside elements.
5. What is the function of the sudoriferous glands?
Prevent the body from overheating
6. What routes does the skin have for absorption?
The routes of skin penetration are through follicle walls, sebaceous glands, intercellular, and transcellular.
7. Name the two components of the dermis.
The dermis contains two layers, the reticular layer below and the papillary layer above.
8. Name the five layers of the epidermis.
9. What are keratinocytes?
Keratinocytes comprise 95 percent of the epidermis and contain both proteins and lipids. They are found in all layers of the epidermis, moving up from the basal layer to the stratum corneum, protecting the epidermis. They undergo many changes and can be either hard, A-keratin or soft, B-keratin. Hard keratinocytes are found in hair and nails.
10. Clarify the process of skin melanization.
Tyrosinase, an enzyme, stimulates melanocytes to produce melanosomes, pigment-carrying granules, via dendrite projections up through the layers of the skin, toward the surface. Melanin protects the skin from UV radiation and other injuries, as well as hormonal influences.
11. How does skin repair itself?
Blood and lymph are the fluids that nourish the skin. Networks of arteries and lymphatics send essential materials for growth and repair throughout the body. Water, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients are all important for skin health. The blood supplies nutrients and oxygen to the skin. Nutrients are molecules from food such as protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Topical products with small molecules can nourish the epidermis.
12. What influences hair growth?
Hormonal influences and genetics determine the distribution of each person’s hair, along with its thickness, quality, color, rate of growth, and whether the hair is curly or straight.
13. What kind of keratin does hair contain?
Hair contains 90 percent hard B-keratin.
14. What kind of keratin do nails contain?
Nails are composed of hard B-keratin.
15. Name the two main types of nerves and describe what they do.
16. What glands help regulate the body’s temperature?
Sudoriferous glands help to regulate body temperature.
17. What are the two main glands associated with the skin?
Sudoriferous and sebaceous glands
18. What are the two types of sweat glands?
Apocrine glands are found under the arms and in the genital area. Eccrine glands are found all over the body, but are primarily on the foreheads, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet.
19. How do the Langerhans cells, leukocytes, and T cells work to protect the body?
20. Describe the differences between UVA wavelengths, UVB wavelengths, UVC wavelengths, and HEV light and their effect on the skin.
21. How do antioxidants stop free radical damage?
Antioxidants are components that have an extra electron, vital to neutralize the chain reaction that occurs when a molecule loses an electron and becomes unstable by donating its electrons to stabilize the free radical’s electrons.
22. What environmental influences affect skin health?
Pollutants in the air from factories, automobile exhaust, climate, humidity, and even secondhand smoke can all influence the appearance and overall health of our skin.
23. What happens to the skin during the aging process?
Estrogen levels fluctuate throughout a woman’s life and affect the skin’s protective barrier, epithelial (external covering) tissue, and dermis. As skin ages, capillary and other vascular walls begin to weaken, lipids are reduced, the lymphatic system is less efficient, glands slow down, and there are fewer fibroblasts. The skin thins and collagen has less ability to respond to physical changes from aging and sun damage. As estrogen is depleted, skin begins to lose its tone. Reduced glycosaminoglycans mean less moisture in the tissues; keratinocytes are reduced (slower cell mitosis); melanocytes are reduced (less protective pigment); and cellular exchanges are reduced. Testosterone levels become dominant as estrogen decreases, which can increase sebum production, pore size, and hair growth on the face.