Skin

Most of us know that what we eat and (ab)use influences our skin, just as certain lifestyle habits do, just think of sunbathing, smoking and drugabuse.

Bodybuilders show their, almost naked, body to the judges and public. If something is unusual, like in this case the skin texture, the bodybuilder can expect his picture all over the net and in discussion forums.

We all age, and aging often doesn't improve our overall appearance. But as said premature aging can have different causes. I don't want to discuss Greg Kovacs overall condition, which has been subject for many years on the discussion forums and in bro-science is called "Palumboism"

Though I'm convinced that the reason for his overall condition is the same reason for the skin deterioration - too long, too much.

What are Stretch Marks?

In the off season some bodybuilders eat crazy amounts of foods combined with even crazier amounts of hormones (bulking). Greg Kovacs decided he wanted the first bodybuilder to weigh a lean muscular 400lb. Growing so fast will leave stretch marks. Stretch marks, also known as stria atrophica and striae distensae, are tears in the dermis. Stretch marks are often falsely classified as scars, though they are not. "... they are not scars because they are not comprised of fibrotic tissue. Instead, stretch marks represent a flattened, thin epidermis overlying gaps in the dermis left by stretched or torn elastin fibers."

Our skin has elastic properties, but growing too fast can "overstretch" the skin's elastic limit. A good way to illustrate this is with a sock. Most socks have elastic in them, so they tightly form around your ankle. This elastic is stretched when we put on and take off the sock.

After time, and wear, the sock's elastic becomes overstretched and no longer fits tightly on out ankles. It looks pretty stupid when you're wearing shorts and your socks are hanging off your ankles. This goes the same for stretch marks. When the skin is overstretched, it loses its elastic property and its connective fibers break, which creates a stretch mark.

The skin tone determines what color your stretch marks will be. The usually start as pink, reddish brown, or dark brown lines. The stretch marks could turn to red, dark red, or a purplish shade. As time goes by, stretch marks do natural fade to a few shades lighter than your natural skin tone. Making them less noticeable. Tanning as bodybuilders do, make them even invisible.

What are the reasons for premature skin ageing?

Premature ageing of the skin cannot be attributed to just one cause. Various environmental, hormonal and physiological factors have a profound effect on the skin.  However, exposure to as "ageing rays".high doses, these rays can cause darkening and pigmentation of theskin and accelerate the ageing process by damaging the underlying collagen, thus making the skin appear scaly, dry, wrinkled and leathery with dark patches.

Other contributory factors include stress, lack of sleep and smoking. Lack of sleep and stress also diminish the amount of other hormones within the body - like growth hormones which help nourish the skin and hair.

Smoking or introducing toxic chemicals into the body increase the number of free radicals, accelerating the ageing process and damaging the elasticity of the skin. For this reason, people who smoke, drink and take drugs often look far older than they are.

What are the signs of premature ageing of skin? 

Most of the damage is visible but one may not be in a position to judge properly as the signs are very similar to regular skin wear and tear. For example, damage due to UVA ray exposure on the beach or the tanning bed, can lead to spider veins on the face, age spots, leathery skin, fine wrinkles that appear only when stretched.

Steroid Related Acne

When it comes to steroid-related acne, oral and injectable forms are equally culpable. That kind of acne doesn't always respond to routine medical treatment, and it may persist for an extended time even after an athlete stops using steroids. Athletes who continue to use steroids while undergoing treatment for acne often show a delayed healing response, which suggests that steroids play a potent role in causing acne.

Glands in the skin - called sebaceous glands - secrete sebum, which lubricates the skin. Just as using anabolic steroids leads to muscular hypertrophy, or size increases, it also leads to growth of the sebaceous glands, which then produce more sebum. That combines with abnormal production of keratin in the skin to cause the formation of comedos, which have nothing to do with comedy and aren't the least bit funny. They are, in fact, pre-acne lesions that contain larger amounts of skin lipids, including cholesterol and free fatty acids. Those fats are like a buffet for bacteria that is normally latent in the skin, and the bacteria thrive. Their banquet produces extremely inflammatory end products in the skin follicles, resulting in the inflammation characteristic of acne.

Figure: A 21 year-old bodybuilder with a history of anabolic-androgenic steroid abuse.

1. Severe acne conglobate

2. Lesions include papules, pustules, abscesses and deep ulcerations

3. Patient after 6 weeks of antiseptic-antibiotic therapy

In some bodybuilders and athletes the acne, known as acne vulgaris, progresses to a more serious form called acne fulminans - ulcerative acne, apparent as ugly red pustules. That form can also cause joint pain, particularly in the hips and knees. While many bodybuilders who get acne with steroid use have a genetic tendency to get acne (explaining why not all bodybuilders who use steroids get acne), others have no previous history of the condition.²

One bodybuilder developed acne three weeks after starting to use anabolic steroids. Over the next three months his acne vulgaris progressed to the disfiguring acne fulminans. He developed extremely tender papules-inflamed skin lesions-pustules and nodules over his chest, shoulders and back, with a few pyrogenic granulomas, or infected, tumor-like lesions, on his chest. When he got off the steroids and was treated with various skin drugs, his acne disappeared, but he was left with many scars.

Occasionally, the more serious forms of acne can develop more rapidly in athletes who never had acne, as was the case with a javelin thrower and a bodybuilder documented in a 1989 study published in a German medical journal. Those spontaneous cases of acne fulminans may have resulted from an immune response to higher levels of bacteria in the skin.

The stimulation of sebaceous glands can also cause other skin diseases, including rosacea, epidermoid cysts, seborrheic dermatitis and oily skin and hair. A 1992 report associated the use of anabolic steroids with tinea versicolor, a fungal skin disease sensitive to sun exposure. The excess sebum generated by steroid use provides an ideal environment for the growth of the tinea fungus, namely Malassezia furfur.

The effect of testosterone and anabolic steroids on the skin surface lipids and the population of Propionibacteria acnes in young postpubertal men Kiali et all 1988

The effect of testosterone and anabolic steroids on skin surface lipids and the population of Propionibacteria acnes (P. acnes) was studied in power athletes. The subjects used self-administered high doses of testosterone and anabolic steroids during a 12-week strength training period. After 8 weeks' use of hormones the amount of dissolved skin surface lipids (SSL), and the Colony Forming Units/cm2 (CFU/cm2) of P. acnes had increased. The percentage values of dissolved SSL constituents changed. The cholesterol (CHO) and also the relative values of free fatty acids (FFA) increased. SSL constituents obtained by collection on absorbent paper likewise changed the dissolved constituents. It was concluded that high doses of testosterone and anabolic steroids may increase the SSL, the P. acnes population, and the percentage of the CHO and FFA of the skin surface lipids in healthy young men.

Effect of testosterone and anabolic steroids on the size of sebaceous glands in power athletes. Kiali et all 1987

The effect of testosterone and anabolic steroids on the size of sebaceous glands was studied by means of interactive morphometry in skin biopsies of power athletes. The subjects used self-administered high doses of testosterone and anabolic steroids during a 4-week strength training period. After 4 weeks' use of hormones, the area of sectioned sebaceous glands enlarged significantly by a factor of 89.2% (p less than 0.005). The number of cells in the so-called differentiating cell pool (DCP) and in the undifferentiated cell pool (UCP) also increased significantly (p less than 0.025, p less than 0.05, respectively). The size of the area occupied by UCP cells increased significantly (p less than 0.05). The study suggests that high doses of testosterone and anabolic steroids lead to an enlargement of sebaceous glands in male power athletes.

Cutaneous manifestations of anabolic-androgenic steroid use in athletes Walker et all 2009

Increased public awareness of the performance-enhancing benefits of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AASs) in athletes has resulted from the media coverage of the BALCO scandal and Mitchell report. The impact of this increased notoriety on the consumption of these drugs remains unclear, however. In addition, the negative connotation associated with the use of AASs may make users less forthcoming when interacting with their physicians. Cutaneous manifestations develop early in the use of AASs, placing dermatologists in a unique position to make an early diagnosis of AAS abuse in patients who engage in competitive sports. This review of the literature focuses on dermatologic presentations of AAS use.

Serum levels of IGF-1 are related to human skin characteristics including the conspicuousness of facial pores Sugiyama et all 2011

The serum level of IGF-1 correlated significantly with total pore area, with the severity of impairment of epidermal architecture around facial pores and with sebum output levels. The sebum output levels correlated with total pore area. Our study found that serum levels of IGF-1 are correlated with facial skin characteristics including facial pore size and with the severity of impairment of epidermal architecture around facial pores.

In the skin, the hormones enlarge pores and boost the production of sebum, an oily substance produced in the skin. What you get is the telltale sign of teenage skin: acne.

The following may happen as a direct or indirect result of hormonal changes:

• Drier skin (all over or in some areas)

• Oilier skin (may co-exist with drier skin in other areas)

• Breakouts

• Appearance of larger pores

• Increased pigmentation, such as brown spots and melasma, and uneven skin color

• Loss of volume and firmness (less estrogen means lower collagen and hyaluronic acid production)

• Loss of radiance (less estrogen leads to a decline in epidermal turnover – lower production of new skin cells and slower rate of natural shedding)

Skinceuticals

Supplements which protect the skin have recently been a trend in supplements research. The market for so called "Skinceuticals" is so large that even the nutritional giant Coca Cola steps in. In 2007, the company teamed up with L'Oreal to create a tea-centric skincare product called LumaГ©. Now in partnership with French drugs maker Sanofi SA, Coca-Cola is set to launch Beautific Oenobiol, named after Sanofi's beauty nutrition brand.

Research companies at present focus mainly on compounds that protect the skin from sunlight. Thus discovered the research lab Cutanees Engineering and Research Laboratory that GliSODin, a variant of a natural protective enzyme, lengthens the time that people with fair skin can sit in the sun without burning. Almost the same thing do lutein and zaxanthine, discovered research company Kemin Health. A few milligrams of these substances related to beta-carotene have effect. Other possible skin protective substances that companies examine, are polyphenols from cocoa and berries, they improve the blood supply to the skin, and collagen and glucosamine to provide building blocks for the skin.

Vitamins for Skin Regeneration

Your skin is capable of regenerating every 27 days, according to the Cleveland Clinic. In most cases, proper cleansing along with a well-balanced diet and plenty of water will help your skin rejuvenate naturally. But when your skin needs some extra care -- for example, when it’s undergone trauma, like a burn or wound, or when it has suffered damage from the sun -- certain vitamins may facilitate the regeneration process.

Vitamin C

An antioxidant, vitamin C plays a major role in the manufacture of collagen, a protein that helps your skin renew itself. This nutrient protects against ultraviolet damage from the sun and decreases wrinkles caused by the aging process. In addition, deficiency in vitamin C can lead to poor wound healing or dry, scaly skin. Women should get at least 75 milligrams a day, while men need a minimum of 90 milligrams. Good sources of vitamin C in the diet include citrus fruits, kiwi, strawberries, mangoes, broccoli, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and winter squash.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is the most abundant antioxidant in your skin, especially the outer layer, called the epidermis. This nutrient plays a role in protecting your skin from UV damage, which can decrease the amount of vitamin E in the skin, reports Linus Pauling Institute, but research on dietary supplementation has been mixed. However, a study published in “The Journal of Investigative Dermatology” in 2005 found that supplementation with both vitamin C and vitamin E for three months protected against the type of DNA damage caused by sunburn. Adults need at least 15 milligrams of vitamin E daily, found in foods such as nuts, seeds, vegetable oils and leafy greens.

Vitamin A

Another antioxidant, vitamin A, helps in the generation of healthy skin cells. Supplementation with vitamin A can promote proper wound healing and the formation of healthy scar tissue. Vitamin A supplements have also been used for a wide range of skin problems, including acne, burns and UV damage. However, the National Institutes of Health notes that the scientific evidence for its use in these conditions is still lacking. Women need a minimum of 700 micrograms of vitamin A per day, while men require 900 micrograms. Animal sources of vitamin A include eggs, meat, dairy, liver and fish oil. Bright orange and yellow fruits and vegetables as well as dark leafy greens are the best plant sources.

B Vitamins

Several members of the B-complex family of vitamins are instrumental in promoting the healing of pressure ulcers.. In particular, thiamine, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and pyridoxine for their wound-healing properties among hospital patients at high risk for skin sores. Every day, adults need at least 1.1 to 1.3 milligrams of thiamine, 1.1 to 1.3 milligrams of riboflavin, 5 milligrams of pantothenic acid and 1.3 milligrams of pyridoxine. A variety of plant and animal foods supply B vitamins, so following a balanced diet will likely cover your daily needs.