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Psychological and Social Implications of Aging Skin: Normal Aging and the Effects of Cutaneous Disease

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Textbook of Aging Skin

Abstract

Aging, by definition, is a progressive deterioration of body structure and function [1, 2]. All organs, including the skin, age. The skin wrinkles, sags, and thins, becoming drier, rougher, and less elastic [1]. Successful aging transcends the inevitable physical decline and is characterized by adaptive psychosocial functioning that facilitates the maintenance of good mental health and satisfaction in daily life [3]. Although much of gerontological research in dermatology has focused on an aesthetic abeyance of the signs of aging, little real medical attention has been paid to the psychosocial effects of an aging integument [4]. The skin is the envelope of self and, therefore, the visible manifestation of personal identity [4]. It displays emotion, blanching, blushing, and sweating in response to internal feelings [5]. The “social” skin and its gerontological issues, then, must be contrasted to the merely biological skin [5].

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

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

    Miranda A. Farage & Kenneth W. Miller

  2. San Gallicano Dermatological Institute, Rome, Italy

    Enzo Berardesca

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

    Howard I. Maibach

Authors
  1. Miranda A. Farage
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  2. Kenneth W. Miller
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  3. Enzo Berardesca
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  4. Howard I. Maibach
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Procter & Gamble Company, 6110 Center Hill Avenue, 45224, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Miranda A. Farage Ph.D. (Principal Scientist) (Principal Scientist)

  2. The Procter & Gamble Company, 6110 Center Hill Avenue, 45224, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Kenneth W. Miller Ph.D. (Associate Director) (Associate Director)

  3. Department of Dermatology, University of California, School of Medicine, 222 SE 8th Ave., Suite 563, 94122, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Howard I. Maibach M.D. (Professor) (Professor)

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Farage, M.A., Miller, K.W., Berardesca, E., Maibach, H.I. (2010). Psychological and Social Implications of Aging Skin: Normal Aging and the Effects of Cutaneous Disease. In: Farage, M.A., Miller, K.W., Maibach, H.I. (eds) Textbook of Aging Skin. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89656-2_89

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89656-2_89

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-89655-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-89656-2

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