Integumentary System: Skin and Aging
Overview
As people age, their skin goes through a natural aging process that leads to visible changes such as wrinkles, reduced elasticity, and slower healing. This is primarily due to a decrease in the number and activity of stem cells in the skin. Additionally, collagen and elastic fibers in the deeper layers of the skin decrease in quantity and lose their elasticity. Years of facial expressions also contribute to the formation of wrinkles. Exposure to harmful UV rays can further accelerate skin aging by damaging the DNA in epidermal cells and the collagen fibers in the dermal layer.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
- describe the internal factors (those that occur within the body) that contribute to the aging process of the skin.
- describe some external factors that contribute to the aging process of the skin.
Video Review
Watch the video: How Does The Skin Age – Skin Aging Process – Why Do We Get Wrinkles (2 minutes)
Chapter Attributions
This chapter by Elisabeth Kehrli and Anil Kapoor is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license.
Media Attributions
How Does The Skin Age – Skin Aging Process – Why Do We Get Wrinkles by Whats Up Dude is licensed under the Standard YouTube license.
Interactive Activity Attributions
The interactive activities in this chapter are from Interactive Activities for Human Anatomy and Physiology by Open Education Lab, Ontario Tech University, and are licensed under a CC BY NC SA 4.0 license.