May 2003 Issue, Published by Internal Health.

Our skin is the largest organ of the body but most people do not think about their skin in relation to over-all health, but that is about to change!

Our skin is now the new medium for administering supplements, hormones and drugs and the term to describe this process is called Transdermal. The description for Transdermal in the Webster’s Dictionary is; “being or supplying a medication in a form for absorption through the skin into the bloodstream”. If we think of taking a supplement or hormone the first image that appears into our mind is in the form of a capsule or pill. We think orally, since this has been the only way available for many years, but we must look into the advantages of topical applications. We can see how the present trend has shifted in marketing the various transdermal patches, these include treatments such as; stopping to smoke, losing weight, administering insulin and other drugs and of course health related products.  

If we look as an example the use of natural progesterone, we would have to use 300 mg of oral progesterone daily to achieve the same result as 20 mg of taking progesterone transdermally daily in a cream form. The oral dosage is 15 times higher than transdermal, but this is needed to compensate for the 95% that will be excreted immediately through the gut and liver. Think about that for a moment; 95% vs. 5%! “This is why we believe transdermal delivery can be a much more effective alternative for many supplements”. *Source: Department of Pharmacology, University of Dublin.

Another great benefit of transdermal application is its convenience. Most oral precursors have a short life of about 3 to 4 hours. This means that they need to be taken several times throughout the day to keep a steady and increased level. But when taking transdermally, two applications per day are sufficient to keep your hormone levels at the optimum level throughout the entire 24-hour period. Not only is this more convenient, it is more effective and easier on your body. And why should we expose the liver to all this additional progesterone when we can achieve the same clinical response with a low dose topical cream?

Women with severe pre-menstrual syndrome can use a cream containing natural progesterone only.  One of the benefits of using topical progesterone cream at normal body dose levels is that the additional progesterone does not affect the normal luteal phase of cycling women, which means that the normal monthly cycle length is not changed.   Some women with poor libido, aches and pains and fatigue will need to have DHEA and/or progesterone in their hormonal cream. Topical hormone creams clearly have many great clinical benefits. And we will see the continual rise in transdermal products being released over the next few years, to take advantage of this very effective low dose form of hormone replacement therapy.  This will be the "Delivery System of the Future."

The physical size of the supplement’s molecule plays an important role. The topical penetration must pass through the layers below the skin surface and enter into the blood capillaries and blood vessels; this process is called percutaneous absorption. It depends on the physical and chemical properties of the medicinal agents, the formulation and the condition of the skin. This will influence the rate and the degree of absorption of the supplement, the degree and the rate will vary with different supplements and the transporter used. Therefore, each dermatological transdermal formulation must be examined, designed and adjusted for optimal percutanueous absorption and therapeutic effect.

Unfortunately as we age our glands gradually slow down and do not produce the youthful amounts of hormones that gave us tight skin, boundless energy and a twinkle in the eye.  The 20th century has increased our life span enormously and yet once we pass the age of 45 years old our hormones start to decline rapidly.  Thank goodness we now have the ability to restore healthy and physiological levels of natural hormones and supplements in a way that is safe on the long term basis. Hormonal creams can enable us to achieve this goal. I believe that many people will soon be massaging their skin with an assortment of these natural hormones and supplements and begin preserving their youthfulness.

Our skin: The skin has many functions, and it goes well beyond just covering our bodies and protecting us from the harsh environment, it is our barrier to the outside world. The skin has a surface area of about 1.5 - 2 square meters and weighs approximately 4 kg, (of course this depends on your height and weight). It constitutes for about 7% of total body weight in adults and has some 5 millions sensory cells.

The importance of what we put on our skin:
So many people are health conscious in our society and they read all the labels for food additives. Some people claim to be vegetarian or only eat foods that are classified as Kosher and they question everything they put into their mouths. But the same people slather their bodies with chemically-laden, petroleum or animal-based lotions and hair products and think the wondrous skin just happens to block out these items or it could be that they just didn't really think about or understand what was happening.

For example, almost all lotions purchased outside the natural foods marketplace contain mineral oil because it is very inexpensive. However Mineral oil effectively seals the skin closed which of course undermines the skin's function as an organ of elimination, absorption and secretion. So, the next time you think about purchasing a product to use on your skin, remember to examine its ingredients as carefully as you would anything you were going to eat!

Some other interesting skin facts you may want to ponder over:

• Base for sensory receptors, the most important of which is touch. Allows you to feel cold, heat, pain, pleasure and pressure
• An organizer, information source and processor.
• Mediator of sensation.
• Barrier between organism and environment.
• Immunologic source of hormones for protective cell differentiation.
• Protector of underlying parts from mechanical and radiation injuries.
• Barrier to toxic materials and foreign organism.
• Major role player in regulating blood pressure and the flow of blood.
• Regenerative repair organ.
• Producer of keratin.
• Absorptive organ of noxious and other substances excreted in the body's waste products.
• Temperature Regulator.
• Organ involved in the metabolism and storage of fat.
• Water and salt metabolism by perspiration.
• Reservoir of food and water.
• Respiratory organ and facilitator of two-way passage of gases through it.
• Synthesizer of a number of important compounds including the anti-rachitic and vitamin D.
• Acidic barrier that protects against many bacteria.
• Sebum from the sebaceous glands lubricates the skin and hair, insulates the body against rain and cold and (probably) helps kill bacteria.
• Cushions our internal organs, bones and tissues, insulates same.
• Contains many of our identifying characteristics- makes our individuality visually evident!
• Directs energy & provides an pathway for emotions to be expressed
• Self cleanser.

As you can see our skin serves a much more important role than only being cosmetic!

You can discover more information regarding our transdermal products by logging into our web site at www.internalhealth.com or www.internalhealth.ca

Products matching the above description include; Progesterone cream, Tri-Estrogen cream, DMAE - the wrinkle cure cream, Melatonin Sweet Dreams cream, D-HEAvenly cream, Gerovital H-3 anti-aging cream, Healing Male – Prostate cream, and DMSO Gel.