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The skin is our largest organ. When it is hot, it cools us, when we freeze - it warms us. Well-nourished and well-groomed skin is something to be proud of. Without it, we would be defenseless against the world around us. It is worth knowing how the skin functions and what it likes.

Leatheris a suit which, like an cosmonaut on the moon, informs us on Earth about what is outside, provides oxygen and protects. But it also signals what is wrong in the body. The body is a complex system: organs, systems and their mutual dependencies. It can do its job so well because it is tightly packed in an interactive cover: leather.

- We know what a patient with jaundice looks like. His skin has a distinctive color. On the other hand, someone depressed or depressed has tight facial features, dull, gray complexion. The skin informs our physical and mental condition - says prof. Magdalena Ciupińska from the Academy of Cosmetics and He alth Care in Warsaw.

Doctors very often recognize the disease after the first symptoms on the skin, although it sometimes happens that the disease has its source entirely elsewhere. For example, so-called liver spots (brown discoloration, mainly on the hands) indicate a metabolic disorder.

- Twenty percent of diabetes cases are so detected that dermatologists refer patients (based on the appearance of the skin) to blood sugar tests - reminds prof. Maria Błaszczyk-Kostanecka, head of the Dermatology Clinic of the Medical University of Warsaw. And she adds: - Patients are often surprised when the doctor they came to with thyroid problems lifts a sleeve of clothes and runs a hand over their skin. It checks if it's dry, flaky, and irritated. The skin is affected by many diseases and therefore, when something happens to it, it suddenly changes, exfoliates rapidly, it itches, it becomes less elastic - do not cover it indiscriminately with creams and ointments, because we will harm ourselves. Sometimes we should see a dermatologist. He will tell us what and how to heal further.

The skin breathes, absorbs, expels

Strength andresistanceto stretching are ensured by the skin's shock absorbers: elastic fibers and fat pad, and protection against injury - the stratum corneum.

An important function of the skin is thermoregulation. When we are very coldwe become pale and reddened when hot. The blood vessels narrow or widen to reduce or increase blood flow. - The sweat glands are also used to regulate the temperature. Their secretion, i.e.sweat , cools our whole body as it flows and cools down - adds prof. Magdalena Ciupińska.

The skin receives stimuli thanks to receptors, i.e. the nervous structures responsible for sensation. Thanks to this, we have tactile sensations, we feel pain, warm or cold. Most of the receptors are found around the mouth and fingers. That's why kisses on the lips can be so exciting. Interestingly, the skin supports the immune system. In the case of vaccinations - antigens injected into the skin cause a local reaction, the organism that remembers the enemy, immediately takes up the fight when it comes into contact with the antigen. This ability is also useful for allergy testing. It can also absorb. That is why many drugs are administered in the form of patches, such as hormones. Medicines administered through the skin, firstly, do not irritate the stomach and liver, and secondly, due to the fact that they are released slowly, they can work for a long time, systematically, with the same intensity - adds Prof. Błaszczyk-Kostanecka. The skin breathes, absorbs and expels. Therefore, during the fasting process, toxins are released through it and sweat smells unpleasant. Vitamin D3 is formed in the skin, which prevents rickets.

Important

Did you know that …

  • We cover ourselves with goose bumps when we get cold or when we get scared. These raised irregularities surrounding the hair follicle are caused by contraction of a small smooth muscle, amusingly known as the ruffler. It is probably a remnant of our ancestors, who, like animals, used to eat fur.
  • Freckles - it is melanin arranged in points, i.e. the skin pigment. People with fair complexion and redheads have them most often. The tendency to them is hereditary. In spring and summer, they are more visible when exposed to the sun.
  • Personal barcode: hands and feet are covered with protectors smaller than 1mm. These are fingerprints arranged in characteristic patterns, different for every human being. Thanks to them, we do not slide on a smooth surface and we do not let everything out of our hands. They also just leave marks called fingerprints or footprints.

Skin structure

It consists of three layers: the epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous tissue, in which there are hair follicles, sweat and sebaceous glands (producing sebum), blood vessels and nerve endings. The epidermis consists of several layers. The bottom cells are still renewing, the top cells are dead. In its innermost layer there are cells that produce the dye -melanocytes. They determine the color of our skin and protect the body against sunlight. Under the epidermis layer is the dermis, made of connective tissue. It is a water store (young skin contains as much as 70% of it). Underneath is the subcutaneous tissue, mainly fat, which is the "cushion" for the dermis. Leather accounts for 6 percent. our body weight, it weighs from 3.5 to 4.5 kg. Its area in an adult person reaches 2 m2. The thickness, depending on the area of ​​the body, can vary from 0.5 to 4 mm.

Men's skin is better because it is thicker

Mother nature, endowing humanity with skin, was more generous to men. They have skin by 25 percent. thicker, also the epidermis. The amount of collagen in their skin is greater. Due to the constant action of male sex hormones, the male sebaceous glands are more active. That is why most men have oily or combination skin. It is much less wrinkled with age. Male hormones also prevent the skin from aging as rapidly as in postmenopausal women.

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Category:

Dermatology