Next Generation in Sun Protection

The Sun - it is the fundamental energy source for all life on the planet. However those very same life-giving rays also have a very harmful effect on the skin. In fact according to skin care professionals all basal cell carcinomas, the most common form of skin cancer, are caused by the day-to-day exposure to ultra-violet radiation from the sun.
There are basically two types of Ultra-violet light that are known to have a mutagenic effect. UVA and UVB. The thing about UVB light that is so dangerous is that it can directly penetrate the skin and hit DNA in the skin and cause mutations by damaging that genetic material. UVB is responsible for most forms of skin cancer. UVA differs from UVB in that it effects both the tops layers and long layers of skin. UVA is known to be the major cause of skin aging, wrinkles, sunspots, and sagging that the skin has as we age are directly related to UVA.

Today many of us have an increased awareness of the damaging effects of sun exposure. We limit our time in the sun, and apply protection. But even the strongest sun block cannot raise the skins ability to resist photo damage, or do anything to actually repair sun-damaged skin. According to Dr. Myron Jacobson of the University of Arizona Cancer Center, "the use of sunscreens really allow you to limit damage going forward. It does not have any effect on the skin damage that has occurred prior to the use of the sunscreen. Sunscreens are very valuable they should be utilized certainly for any individual that is having significant sun exposure. However, our experience shows us that sunscreens often aren't effectively utilized, and some individuals argue that the increased use of sunscreens may promote skin damage because individuals feel as though they are getting protected, when in fact they are not being effectively protected. While researching the roll of cellular DNA damage in cancer, Dr. Jacobson discovered a way to actually build a stronger, healthier skin barrier - from the inside out. It involves essential niacin known to have a rejuvenate effect on cellular metabolism, and a patented molecule that delivers the nutrient deep into the dermal layer of the skin. "Our approach to the treatment and protection of skin damage is an outgrowth of our skin cancer research. We have discovered that niacin provides beneficial effects to skin damage in multiple ways. But the real issue then once that was discovered was to be able to deliver the benefits of niacin to skin. This lead us to develop a molecule that we call Pro-niacin that effectively delivers the benefits of niacin to skin. This technology is a 25-year old over night wonder. This technology is based on long-term research in our laboratory to understand how skin damage occurs and how the normal mechanism that skin cells have to repair damage function. And so as opposed to many approaches for the treatment of sun damaged skin that I would characterize as outside-in approaches that really work from the surface, this is really an "inside-out" approach that really works in the living layers of the skin to repair and to prevent future sun damage."

Recent scientific studies prove the clinical effectiveness of the technology. In fact the National Cancer Institute identified the active ingredients in NIA 24 - a product that uses the Pro-niacin molecule - for development as a potential skin cancer prevention agent.Says Jacobson, "I think that we distinguish our technology and the benefits of our technology by a very strong science based approach. Ultimately that involves the publication of the results of our clinical trials in high level peer reviewed journals. This way we can establish based on review of the scientific community the benefits of this technology to sun damaged skin. Our data from analysis of skin biopsies clearly show benefit in ways that cannot immediately be seen and this shows a dramatic improvement of the organization of this upper most layer of the skin that comprises what we call the skin barrier. This is crucial to protecting us from environmental insults and particularly in protecting us from further sun damage."

What is most exciting about this research and proof of the effectiveness of this technology, is that Dr. Jacobson and other researchers are not only discovering how the bodies natural repair processes work, but how to use the latest technology to emulate those processes. This deeper understanding of how the body works on a molecular and sub-atomic level promises to do for medicine, what quantum physics has done for our understanding of the universe.