Skin: Our natural armour

The skin is by far the largest organ of the human body. It is indeed a multitasker,?performing an array of functions. But do we really care for it as much? Quite often than not, skin care is misinterpreted as cosmetic pampering and a luxury by many,?rather than a necessity. Let's have a quick look at why this could be far from the truth.

A sensory organ:

Skin perceives the sensations of touch,?pressure, temperature, pain, etc. Imagine life without these senses. Daunting isn't it??

Maintaining temperature and water balance:?

Skin also regulates the body temperature and also maintains the body’s water and solute balance to support life.?

Vitamin D synthesis:?

How commonly do people complain of fatigue, back pain, muscle weakness or cramps/aches and fractures? While we often disregard these signs as a part and parcel of our fast-paced, yet sedentary lifestyle; they could be specific pointers of Vitamin D deficiency. Here the skin acts as the savior by being responsible for producing vitamin D if adequately exposed to ultraviolet light (UV).

Anti-aging and anti-cancer action: Thanks to the melanin pigment, that not only gives our skin it's healthy colour but also acts as our natural sunscreen and plays an indispensable role in maintaining skin vitality. Protecting from harmful ultraviolet rays and their injurious effects that cause DNA damage, it acts as a mantle that prevents premature aging, tanning in some or sunburns in others as well as the rather grave consequences of developing skin cancers.?

Protection: That's one of its pivotal functions. Healthy skin is our primary barrier protecting against a variety of stressors- be it mechanical, physical, chemical, thermal or the potentially harmful microbial insults that it is subjected to on a daily basis. It's our first line of defense against them.?

The skin has its own army of:

The brick-and-mortar structure of the corneocytes and lamellar membrane lipids of the stratum corneum?

The acidic pH of the skin protects against the harmful pathogens

The Natural Moisturising Factor (NMF) in the corneocytes that maintain hydration provides barrier function and plasticity.

Furthermore, there is emerging evidence suggesting the role of aquaporins (a family of membrane channel proteins in the upper epidermis) that keep the skin hydrated by allowing the movement of water and solutes within the cells. They help in keratinocyte proliferation and water retention thereby keeping a check on transepidermal water loss (TEWL). In addition to their role in barrier repair, what's worth knowing is that aquaporins are also proposed to play a role in immune responses for wound healing.

The cellular soldiers of defense:?

The keratinocytes, a mechanical barrier with their Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are involved in antigen recognition and induction of a?cascade of immune responses for protection.?

The immunological military of the epidermal keratinocytes, dermal dendritic antigen-presenting cells, B and T lymphocytes, natural killer cells and mast cell form the SALT: skin-associated-lymphoid-tissue. The inflammatory mediators (cytokines and chemokines) released by the cells in an attempt to activate the adaptive immune responses are a genuine first line of defense against microbes.

What is noteworthy, is knowing what would happen if this protective barrier got disrupted. It opens doors to a number of common skin disorders including atopic dermatitis/eczema, dryness/xerosis, acne and psoriasis…… just to name a few; besides predisposition to infections.

With that known, the significance of the array of functions of skin cannot be over-emphasized. It is true armour that we are blessed with!

And taking care of it is the least one can do to keep this armour healthy.

#skin #skincare #sunscreen #moisturizer #asthetics #cosmeceuticals