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Textbook of Aging Skin pp 1793–1800Cite as

Effects of Aging on Skin Reactivity

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Abstract

There is a general caution that needs to be applied to studies that report population differences in skin biology, reactivity, or symptoms. The caution simply relates to the fact that known intra- and interindividual differences in skin reactivity and the potential breadth of reactivity across large population clusters makes it difficult to draw definitive conclusions from studies on limited numbers of subjects. Age-related differences in skin reactivity tend to be more consistent in the response patterns that have emerged from individual studies than studies of other population comparisons (e.g., gender or ethnicity). A trend toward reduced skin irritation responsiveness in elderly subjects is a fairly common observation. Self-perception of skin sensitivity and sensory skin responses, as a function of age, have not been studied well enough to draw firm conclusions, though the limited data available also supports an age-related reduction in responsiveness. The situation is a bit more complicated with allergic responses. Here, except for the very young developing immune system, sensitivity may be as much related to exposure history as to inherent differences in susceptibility per se, although the prevalence and severity of elicitation responses can show some decline with age. This is likely due to the known age-related general decline in immune function.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Global Biotechnology and Life Sciences Technology Platform, The Procter & Gamble Company, Mason Business Center, Mason, OH, USA

    Michael K. Robinson

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  1. Michael K. Robinson
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Correspondence to Michael K. Robinson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Winton Hill Business Center, The Procter & Gamble Company , Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Miranda A. Farage

  2. Margoshes-Miller Consulting, LLC, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Kenneth W. Miller

  3. Department of Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA

    Howard I. Maibach

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Robinson, M.K. (2017). Effects of Aging on Skin Reactivity. In: Farage, M., Miller, K., Maibach, H. (eds) Textbook of Aging Skin. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47398-6_96

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47398-6_96

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-47397-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-47398-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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