Aging & Inflammation with iS Clinical

Sponsored Content: This blog post was written by Dr. Charlene DeHaven on behalf of iS Clinical.

Inflammation affects the skin in a myriad of ways, but is particularly damaging when combined with the effects of aging. However, there are many ways to remedy the causes of inflammation and to minimize its effects.

Today we will discuss how to recognize inflammation and why it is especially connected with the aging process. We also offer methods to reduce not only the appearance of inflammation, but the actual inflammatory process itself.

Identifying Inflammation

Inflammation is usually considered to be part of a skin disease, such as rosacea or acne, and it certainly is. However, ongoing inflammation affects every decline in skin health and is an important driver of skin aging. If inflammatory processes could be decreased – and they can! – then aging would be slowed, skin health would improve and beauty would increase.

Not only is inflammation present when it appears as redness, warmth, discomfort and swelling but it is also present, whether it is visible or not, during aging. Furthermore, stress from any cause is quite inflammatory. Inflammation accelerates aging, so much so that a new word was coined by scientists and doctors to describe this close connection – “inflammaging.” Inflammation and aging are so associated with one another that they can be spoken of as a single word.

Effects on Aging

Older people have more inflammatory markers in their blood stream compared to younger people. This is known to be true because these levels have been measured in large numbers of people. For those of the same age, people with healthier skin and a healthier body have lower levels of inflammation compared to those with less healthy skin or bodies.

Even in groups of people of the same age and with the same medical problem – such as diabetes, for example – diabetics who have their condition under good control have fewer circulating inflammatory molecules than diabetics whose disease is under poor control. These levels also predict how rapidly health will decline unless interventions are taken.

Controlling Inflammation

There are many ways for an individual to decrease their personal level of inflammation. One solution is to take oral supplements, such as curcumin, which have been shown to decrease inflammation in the body. Another option is to adopt practices like meditation, yoga, mindfulness training and exercise, which decrease the body’s molecules that communicate stress and encourage inflammation in the skin and other tissues. 

Many lifestyle modifiers working through epigenetics also positively impact the inflammatory process; some of these include diet, exercise, smoking cessation, stress reduction, social connection, spirituality and a positive outlook on life.

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