title: Skin health in older age.
abstract: As people age, their skin undergoes changes which result in reduced elasticity, increased fragility and an altered immune response; in essence it becomes frail. As life expectancy is increasing the health of older skin is becoming a progressively more important facet of overall care. In addition to the consequences of ageing for otherwise healthy skin, the relative incidence of some dermatological conditions is age-dependent. In particular, xerosis (dry skin), cutaneous malignancies and skin injuries are more common in older people. In this review we describe the functional consequences of skin ageing and discuss the current evidence on how skin health may be maintained and dermatological conditions prevented in an ageing population. The future of dermatological health-care provision in the older population relies on the development of coordinated pathways of care, which start from a young age. Better quality research coordinated by the establishment of institutions dealing with skin health and ageing would be a method of addressing these needs.
authors.affiliation: Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK; The Dermatology Centre, Barnes Building, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust M6 8HD, UK. Electronic address: yusur@doctors.net.uk.
authors.forename: Yusur
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Al-Nuaimi
authors.affiliation: Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK; School of Biomedicine, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sherratt
authors.affiliation: Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK; The Dermatology Centre, Barnes Building, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust M6 8HD, UK.
authors.forename: Christopher E M
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Griffiths
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D019091:Critical Pathways; D006801:Humans; D015595:Skin Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D017592:Skin Care; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control
keywords: Ageing; Skin; Skin health