Table of Contents
What is ageing?
Ageing has been perceived as a mysterious, unavoidable and incomprehensible part of life and nature for centuries. There is still a lot of mystery surrounding ageing, however, like biomedical and biochemical research advances every day, we uncover more and more of the mechanisms underlying ageing. Numerous theories exist for the explanation of ageing, but in reality, the truth is likely to be composed of a large number of these theories. One of the most established theories explaining ageing is the oxidative stress theory. During its normal operations, the body produces unwanted chemicals, so-called reactive oxygen species, abbreviated as ROS. These compounds are capable of damaging a wide range of important components found in cells. The body detoxifies some of these chemicals using antioxidant enzymes, like superoxide dismutase. However, as a person’s age advances the levels of these enzymes decrease, which leads to the accumulation of more acquired damage. This becomes visible through the appearance of wrinkles, grey hair and a range of other signs associated with ageing. There is currently research being carried out into potential anti-ageing therapies, however, there is still a long road ahead for this field. If you would like to get lip fillers Kent to alleviate signs of ageing, book an appointment with a dental practice also specialising in facial aesthetics.
Dermal fillers
Currently, there is no approved pharmacological or other treatment against ageing despite the large amounts of money and research effort invested in the topic. However, there are a number of promising results from cell and animal model experiments. Certain studies have concluded that the administration of GDF11 (Growth Differentiation Factor 11) has reduced the levels of age-related biomarkers in aged rats. While this is a very promising result, the translation of animal experiments into human treatments is a long and expensive process, which often does not even succeed. Watch out for scammers advertising such treatments, as it can be both very dangerous and completely ineffective. If you would like to reduce your signs of ageing using lip fillers, go where you can get professional help with the matter.
What is Botox?
Botox is a famous and well-established therapy for the alleviation of age-related signs, such as wrinkles. Botox is the abbreviation of botulinum toxin, which is a highly potent neurotoxin that can be used for medicinal purposes by specialists. It is produced by a bacterium called clostridium botulinum. These bacteria can be present in inappropriately conserved tinned food, which if consumed can lead to toxic effects. Luckily, in a clinical setting botox can have beneficial effects, without any toxicity or significant side effects. This drug acts by blocking the so-called neuromuscular junction, the junction where your motor nerves and target muscles meet. This ability can be utilised in facial aesthetics, as by blocking the neuromuscular junctions selectively in a localised area can smoothen the skin above them, leading to improved aesthetic appearance. Luckily the systemic toxic effects are nothing to be worried about in a controlled clinical setting, as only a very small amount of the toxin is used in only a small localised area.