In Pursuit of Youth

Source: Manila Standard Today

By Dinna Chan Vasquez

The beauty business is a multi-billion-dollar industry worldwide because nearly every woman is in search of the magic potion that would stop aging. Sadly, aging is an inevitable reality.

Once a woman is in her middle 20s, collagen production slows and the dermal elastin becomes less elastic. Collagen gives skin its plumpness while elastic provides elasticity.

Bad habits like unprotected sun exposure, repetitive facial expressions, smoking, late nights and many others can result in skin going from balat sibuyas to balat kalabaw.

The sad results of skin aging are fine wrinkling, thin and uneven skin tone, loss of underlying fat leading to hollowed cheeks and eye sockets and loss of firmness on the hands and neck.

Fernando Lucero, one of the country’s most renowned plastic surgeons, says there is no way anyone can prevent aging, pointing to the picture of a wrinkled and stooped old woman.

“We will all end up like that, if we live long enough,” he says.

Lucero, who broke ground in stem cell therapy in the country, is an advocate of ActiStem dermal, a solution derived from sheep placenta that was created to stimulate the body’s stem cells.

Stem cells serve as a sort of repair system for the body. They can theoretically divide without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

Lucero explains that ActiStem dermal is a natural ingredient that, when administered to the skin’s dermal layer, activates stem cells to regenerate faster and more efficiently. The result, he adds, is a marked increase in the production of collagen and elastic and an improvement in the skin’s overall youthfulness. What ActiStem contains are a variety of peptide growth factors such as EGF, FGF, HGF, PDGF among others. Once administered into the dermis, there will be a significant increase in the skin’s collagen and elastin content.

ActiStem dermal promises to deliver in terms of lifting and tightening of the skin, delivering improved radiance or glow and a marked reduction in fine wrinkles.

Clinical tests conducted on 30 patients have confirmed ActiStem dermal’s efficacy as a minimally invasive way to increase collagen and elastin.

Each patient in the trial received one vial of ActiStem dermal administered via mesotherapy. After six weeks, all patients reported moderate or marked improvement of fine lines, with 20 percent giving an excellent rating and 80 percent a moderate rating. For radiance and glow, 16.67 percent gave a marked improvement rating and 83.33 percent gave a moderate improvement rating.

Francesca Roa, the dermatologist who conducted the clinical tests for the product, says there was “slight to moderate improvement” in the skin’s fine lines, firmness and radiance in the test subjects.

Based on a biopsy of the subjects’ skin, 80 percent showed increased collagen production and 40 percent increased their elastin.

Roa says the subjects reported minimal itchiness and irritation immediately after the procedure but these disappeared after a few minutes.

Former beauty queen Peachy Veneracion tried ActiStem and says she started to notice a change in her face after only one week.

“My face became more radiant. After two weeks, my skin became less haggard. I also noticed that since I had the treatment, I have not had a single pimple on my face and my pores have become smaller,” says the Mutya ng Pilipinas 1977 titlist.

Lucero says what makes ActiStem dermal more ground-breaking, aside from the fact that it is minimally invasive, is that the procedure requires 20 minutes of the person’s time and produces no swelling or irritation.

With no recovery time necessary, patients can go back to their normal activities immediately after the treatment,” he adds.

Lucero’s wife Tinette also used ActiStem dermal and she says her skin is more supple, healthy-looking and youthful as a result.

“I have tried many anti-aging creams and even some rejuvenation machines. But with ActiStem, my skin got a little lift and my skin looked tighter. My fine lines and age spots lessened and my skin became smoother since the pores became smaller. My skin has that youthful glow,” she adds.