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Skin Ageing Research Paper

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Ageing has many negative effects on the skin in dogs and cats. It not only alters appearance and texture, but also causes changes on a cellular level. There are both intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence skin ageing, and show up in a variety of ways. Mentioned below are merely a few of these age-related modifications. Intrinsic factors have a major effect on ageing in an animal's skin. First and foremost, genetics play a leading role. Cellular ageing is defined as the time when a cell becomes old and can no longer replicate, called replicative senescence. This can occur as a result of DNA damage due to a variety of reasons. A characteristic of replicative senescence is the shortening of telomeres found at the ends of DNA strands that…show more content…
UV radiation is one of the most damaging factors that influences the health of the skin. It is more important in people than animals, however, due to their lack of furry covering and thus greater skin to sunlight exposure. Still, some animals with light pigmentation, thin fur, areas of bare skin or albinos will be at risk. Clinical studies have identified excessive sun exposure (and thus exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation) as a primary causative factor in various skin diseases including, premature ageing, inflammatory conditions, malignant and non-malignant tumours (Chang 2010; Schmitt 2011). This is due to a series of harmful biochemical reactions occurring in a process known as photoaging. Chronic or prolonged solar damage negatively affects the dermal connective tissue and skin metabolism. It also depresses immunity and increases inflammation through the production of MMPs which degrade collagen and cause a loss of skin suppleness (Taihao 2009). Pollution is another factor influencing skin ageing (Vierkötter 2010). Recent studies have correlated particle pollution with advanced ageing in humans. Also, most importantly, skin hyperpigmentation and delayed skin renewal has been observed in both human and animal studies (Pedata 2011; Vierkötter…show more content…
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