Non-neoplastic disorders of the aging skin

Abstract

The skin is the barrier between vulnerable internal tissues and a plentitude of environmental factors with the potential to negatively impact those tissues [1]. Degenerative processes inherent to aging produce the characteristic thinning, drying, and sagging of elderly skin [2] as well as a progressive deterioration in skin function [3]. This process is based to some extent on ethnicity and gender [4]. However, most visible changes in aged skin [4] as well as most pathological changes are due to a lifetime of exposure to external environmental insult [1]. Degenerative processes that occur in aging skin and their clinical significance are shown in Table 54.1. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010.