Archive for April 2023
April 20th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Enigma: formulación lógica que evade la resolución; problema intrincado y difícil. Mejorar tu estado de ánimo es lo que promete el siguiente ingrediente para el cuidado de la piel: Zanthoxylum Alatum Fruit Extract (y) Glicerina (y) Pentylene Glycol (y) Aqua / Agua. Este ingrediente ilustra las limitaciones a las que se enfrenta la industria cosmética: la FDA no permite el uso de sustancias químicas clasificadas como medicamentos por la FDA, ya sean recetadas o de venta libre (OTC). Mejorar el estado de ánimo sería una de las actividades no permitidas para los cosméticos. Pero la industria ha encontrado un resquicio: puede “hacer trampa” utilizando extractos de plantas medicinales. La FDA…
April 20th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Of course! Our body is very complicated and any publications explaining why something happens will always be a partial explanation. This is particularly true for aging (so many things go wrong) and with stem cells, because they are so flexible. In the past, I posted the news that two enzymes crucial to the synthesis of melanin were affected in the hair follicle making grey hair. The following is from my book Following the discovery that follicles lacking in two crucial antioxidant enzymes make gray-white hair, we added these two enzymes to our Hair Care Serum that should help protect your scalp and prevent the loss of hair color. Gray hair…
April 19th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Conundrum: A logical postulation that evades resolution, an intricate and difficult problem Improving your mood is what this skin care ingredient promises: Zanthoxylum Alatum Fruit Extract (and) Glycerin (and) Pentylene Glycol (and) Aqua / Water. This ingredient illustrates the constraints that the cosmetic industry faces: the FDA does not allow the use of chemicals classified as medicines by the FDA, be it prescription or over-the-counter (OTC). Improving your mood would be one activity cosmetics are not allowed to do. But the industry found a loophole: it can “cheat” by using medicinal plant extracts. The FDA does not allow using an alkaloid in a skin care product Why? There is a…
April 17th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
¿Qué es la cara Ozempic? Pero primero, ¿qué es Ozempic? Es el nombre comercial de un producto químico sintético, semaglutida, un péptido modificado químicamente, que puede engañar a un receptor del péptido natural. El receptor se denomina receptor del péptido de tipo glucagon, o GLP-1, y la semaglutida hará que tu cuerpo “crea” que terminás de ingerir una comida copiosa. La semaglutida, que se vende bajo las marcas Ozempic, Wegovy y Rybelsus, es un medicamento antidiabético utilizado para el tratamiento de la diabetes de tipo 2 y ahora se utiliza como medicamento contra la obesidad. Al tratarse de un péptido, no puede tomarse por vía oral (se destruiría en el…
April 17th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Miramos con horror las viejas fotos de mujeres con corsés, o los pies femeninos deformados por años de ataduras. Y, sin embargo, estamos repitiendo los viejos errores con la ayuda de la ciencia, la farmacología y la cirugía plástica. Los corsés han sido sustituidos por Spanx, más cómodos. La gente utiliza productos químicos sintéticos inyectables para perder 10 kilos en un par de semanas. Las mujeres acuden a cirujanos plásticos que olvidaron su juramento hipocrático para que les quiten la grasa de la cara. Otras consiguen que los mismos cirujanos plásticos les inyecten grasa o ácido hialurónico químicamente modificado en la cara. ¿Se puede jugar así con el cuerpo y…
April 17th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Las ceramidas son una familia de lípidos cerosos (de cera en latín) cuya estructura química es variada, pero básicamente formada por N-acetil esfingosina y un ácido graso. ¿Para qué fabrica ceramidas la piel? Tres funciones principales: la que nos resulta más familiar es como parte del “pegamento” que adhiere entre sí a las células epidérmicas muertas constituyendo la barrera cutánea, la cual evita la pérdida de agua transepidérmica.La segunda, las ceramidas son parte de las membranas celulares, en forma de otros lípidos llamados esfingomielina, un componente importante de la bicapa lipídica, crucial para las propiedades de permeabilidad de las membranas celulares.¿Y la tercera? Las ceramidas, en la piel y otros…
April 13th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
We look in horror at old photos of women in corsets, or the women’s feet deformed by years of binding. And yet, we are repeating the old mistakes with the help of science, pharmacology, and plastic surgery. The corsets have been replaced with more comfortable Spanx. People use injectable synthetic chemicals to lose 30 pounds in a couple of weeks. Women get plastic surgeons who forgot their Hippocratic oath to remove fat from their faces. Other women get the same plastic surgeons to inject fat or chemically modified hyaluronic acid into their faces. Can you play with the body in that way and stay healthy? Maybe, but you will pay…
April 13th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Reevaluating Ozempic The data are in and it looks like Ozempic-type medications benefit several health conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney and heart problems. Since these are serious conditions, it looks like the Ozempic type of medicine is here to stay. What is Ozempic? It’s the brand name for a synthetic chemical, semaglutide, a chemically modified peptide, that can fool a receptor for the natural peptide. The receptor is called glucagon-like peptide receptor, or GLP-1, and semaglutide will make your body “think” that you just had a huge meal. Semaglutide, sold under the brand names Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus, is an antidiabetic medication used for treating type 2…
April 12th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Ceramides are a family of waxy (cera means wax in Latin) lipids that vary in chemical structure but are basically made of N-acetyl sphingosine and a fatty acid. Why does the skin make ceramides? Three main functions: the one we are more familiar with is as part of the “glue” that sticks epidermal dead cells to each other making up the skin barrier, which prevents trans-epidermal water loss. Second, ceramides form part of the cell membranes, in the form of other lipids called sphingomyelin, a major component of the lipid bilayer, crucial to the permeability properties of the membranes. The third? Ceramides, in the skin and other organs, can act…