Archive for September 2016
September 28th, 2016 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
From the FDA’s Consumer Updates page: “Because the manufacturers haven’t proven that the antibacterial ingredients are safe for daily use over a long period of time. Also, manufacturers haven’t shown that these ingredients are any more effective than plain soap and water in preventing illnesses and the spread of certain infections. Some manufacturers have already started removing these ingredients from their products, ahead of the FDA’s final rule.” “Following simple handwashing practices is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of many types of infection and illness at home, at school and elsewhere,” says Theresa M. Michele, MD, of the FDA’s Division of Nonprescription Drug Products. “We…
September 23rd, 2016 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
What are ceramides? Ceramides consist of a long-chain or sphingoid base linked to a fatty acid via an amide bond. Figure: Sphingosine. Figure: ceramide, with sphingosine bound to a fatty acid via an amide. Ceramides are present at low concentration in plants and animals, so there isn’t a good source of natural ceramides for use in the industry. Extraction of a rare chemical from a plant requires laborious processes and the resulting ingredient are terribly expensive. Another source of ceramides, the central nervous system, is not suitable for epidemiological reasons. For this reason, the ceramides used in skin care are synthetic. Confusing Terminology The chemical nomenclature for ceramides is simple enough:…
September 6th, 2016 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
How vitamin A was found to be a Vitamin Vitamins are organic compounds that are essential to human metabolism, but that humans are unable to synthesize so they must be acquired through food. During evolution, we “simply” lost some enzymes required for their synthesis. Observations made before 1900: Nutritional deprivation caused corneal ulcers, blindness, and high mortality. Also, an unknown substance present in milk and egg yolk is essential for nutrition. In the early 20th century it was found that this unknown substance was fat soluble. The growth-supporting “accessory factor” in milk and egg yolk became known as ‘fat-soluble A’ in 1918 and then ‘vitamin A’ in 1920. Further research,…
September 6th, 2016 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Sunlight is More than What We See Ultraviolet light is classified into three categories: UVA (long wave, black light, 315 to 400 nm) which causes tanning, UVB (medium wave, 280 to 315 nm) which causes sunburn, and UVC (short wave, germicidal, 100 to 280 nm) which is filtered out by the atmosphere and does not reach us. Incidentally, the ozone layer absorbs 97–99% of the UV from about 200 nm to 315 nm wavelength, which potentially damages exposed life forms on Earth. Not everything UV light does to you is bad, ultraviolet light (between 270 nm and 300 nm) reaching our skin breaks down 7-dehydrocholesterol flowing in the bloodstream, converting…