Structural changes in aging human skin.
In both exposed and protected areas of progressively older people the underside of the epidermis becomes increasingly flattened out. This flattening is accompanied by a comparable rarefaction of the superficial blood vessels. In this article we review the architecture of the elastic fiber framework in the papillary dermis of skin protected from the sun; aging changes that occur are similar to, but less severe than, those in sun-exposed areas. Most cutaneous sensory end organs are little affected by aging; those in the external genitalia, however, and particularly those underneath the vaginal epithelium become smaller and some disappear.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D002196:Capillaries; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004547:Elastic Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation; D008875:Middle Aged; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells; D012867:Skin / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000098:blood supply / Q000294:innervation; D012879:Skin Physiological Phenomena; D013472:Sunlight