So-called anticellulitis creams
Being the recipient of the feelings of anger without voicing them means to deceive someone who trusted you in a moment of dispair. How many cosmetic researchers complain of being the victims of idealess marketing people? The latter, instead of following t he evolution of the market, rather than asking the Technician for innovative technical solutions in line with the dynamic relation between offer and demand for more and better products, create an image-making cream by which to condition and enthral the consumer. In the name of the cream they pontificate, mystify and hoax the customer thus making the technician feel downtrodden. Technicians express their expertise with art and science. Needless to say, their commitment is like that of any other rese archer in any other field, since professional reliability is a personal and not a cultural parameter. However, some tests, hyped by mass media, create difficulties for them. By calling the attention to the so-called "anticellulitis" cream s easily available on the market, these tests, based upon a seriously faulty methodology once more show their submission to a form of unprofessional marketing which uses and misuses technically indisputable concepts. In other words a run-away market. Who do es foot this bill? Popular credulity, cosmetology as a science and the bounden duty to better offer company's products. There is no doubt that the world, among a thousand aberrations, is also prey of "market-oriented trifling creams", but the in itiatives of consumer associations who now denigrate of all creams meant for cellulitic dysmorphisms, are putting the former, and not the creams at fault.
For the cosmetic treatment of cellulitis the technician may benefit from existing expertise and information. This is not the right place to deal with the biochemical havoc that takes place between the dermis and the hypodermis and that, as an answer, give s rise to cellulitis that has nothing in common with localised adipose formations which are peculiar to the female body for strictly anatomical reasons. However, we should highlight that there are also micro-circulation deficits and capillary paten cy alterations, slowing down the flow of both blood and lymph, which are inevitably followed by biological responses such as edema, hyperplasia and hypertrophy of the cellular reticulum and, therefore, adipocyte degeneration. From esthetical standpoint, t he result is "orange-peel" or "mattress-like" skin.
This ought to be stated since it is a well-defined anatomo-pathological situation that we talk about since 1980 and that, as such, allows for suitable biological actions that still hold surprise in store. The consistent increase in our knowledge of anatomofunctional figures comprises an increase in very real possibilities of topical intervention. There is a rule (Newell, A. and Simon Herbert, A.) which says that problem solving always implies a "step by step" search in which each step is guided by an empirical euristic rule: "in this situation it is important to take this step". In the specific case in question, the first step is local intervention on the hemolymphatic circuit and on the metabolism of the adipocyte . For this, Iodotrat and Zedomine, ingredients commonly used in cosmetics, provide serious and correct possibilities for intervention.
They are delivered through excipients that guarantee adequate diffusion, therefore giving rise to an efficient cream that may be applied without massaging. This is achieved with pairs of emulsifying bio-emulgoids with long chain low branched oils, a suitable water percentage that is preserved by means of substances that do not inhibit enzymic activities that take place within the organic molecule found in Iodotrat. For technicians, a type-example is given by compound No. 58.3667.
Iodotrat activity is mediated by a receptor mechanism; that of Zedomines, which is usually found in so-called "muscle activating creams" (an equally improper definition as the "anticellulitis" one) may be defined as lymph-draining .
The association of these two substances has rational bases and puts the lab technician in a position of strength if compared to an inadequate formula. Marketing people need only rejoice.
So-called muscle activating creams
For many years, the use of "muscle activator" creams has become firmly established in the vast field of myalgia, the cause of which may vary, but particularly when due to cold and fatigue. The question has therefore been asked as to whether they have a real or only a subjective effect, especially with regard to certain mechanisms that their action is said to perform. More precisely, we have sought to prove whether the confirmed biostimulating effect is accompanied by objective local metabolic an d circulatory improvements, or whether it is simply a matter of superficial sensations caused by thermal stimulation on the nerve endings. Indeed, it has long been known that certain substances, such as men-thol, are able to provoke changes in temperature , through a local anaesthetizing action of varying duration, without, however, causing any significant thermo-graphic changes. In the case of menthol, only the nerves that transmit the feeling of cold are stimulated: to this stimulation is added a paralys is of all other sensitive nerves, hence the analgesic effect. And hence the non-indication of menthol and/or substances with similar mechanisms in "after-shave" and, even more so in "after-sun products." Furthermore, common superficial hyper emizing agents and vasodilators, instead of activating the haemolymphatic circulation, slow it down causing a stasis as a consequence, which can provoke asphyxic micro-edema of the cutaneous anatomo-functional unit.
The decrease in vascular reaction and in the synthesis of fibroblasts in elderly people leads to a slower healing process and a diminished ability to adapt to cold temperatures respectively
With age, fibroblasts appear to decrease both in number and in size. In vitro, the reproductive capacity of the fibroblast appears to be finite and not unlimited. The fact that these cells are only capable of a certain number of cellular divisions suggests that there exists a programmed senescence within the tissues, and this has led to considerable speculation with regard to the nature of the ageing process. Other studies have highlighted the decreasing reproduction capacity of fibroblasts in old age, and suggest a reduced contact between the fibroblasts and the conjunctive tissular frame. This decreasing number of fibroblasts and their reduced reactive capacity explain why skin wounds take longer to heal in old people.
Old age and peripheral arterial circulation
There are no capillary vessels in the epidermis, and oxygen and nutritive substances are provided for this part of the skin by the capillary vessels of the dermal papillae. These branch off the vascular framework situated horizontally within the dermis. T here are also plexus which are rich in blood vessels and which branch out around the hair follicles and, to a lesser degree, the sweat glands. Arterial vessels tend to thicken in elderly people and there is a reduction in the number of capillaries. The ca pillaries of unexposed skin become thinner, probably allowing a decreasing amount of synthetizing activity, together with a reduction in the number of fibroblasts (Weil cells). The vascular response to all types of stimulus also tends to alter in old age and this is the only explanation for an apparently diminished response to chemical and mechanical traumas as well as the increased feeling of cold that old people complain of. Substances injected intracutaneously, such as saline solution or fluoresceine, take longer to disappear from the point of injection in old people.
Thermography has isolated the superficial vascular activity of Zedomines
In the light of these observations, we have further studied Zedomines which appeared of specific interest in a series of previous experiments. Indeed, by chance, we had observed the onset of hypothermia after application of a cream containing Zedomine wit h a short term noticeable increase of the temperature compared to the basal one. Later, a targeted verification confirmed the preliminary observations, conforted by its repeatibility. Indeed one could see that the initial hypothermia, thermographically st udied and quantified, was followed (after approx. 15 minutes) by a protracted local hyperthermia (90-120 minutes).
Laser Doppler tests have shown that Zedomines (Zedomine, Vevy codex 13.1250 and Zedomine-2, Vevy codex 13.3152) achieve and increase lymphatic drainage at dermal-hypodermal level and activate blood circulation. Thus they differ from common local hyperemiz ing agents and skin-deep vasodilators which slow down the hemo-lymphatic circulation instead of stimulating it. We suggest that this phase involves greater nourishment.
The above is corroborated by LSEQ tests (Laser Substractive Epidermal Quantification tests) in which 2 gels containing 1% and 5% Zedomine respectively were used.
Graph A shows a slight slowing down of microcircolatory activity after application of both gels, probably associated with a reflected vasoconstriction.
Waste elimination in cellulitis situations
The use of Zedomine in topical products appears to be rational for the treatment of cellulitis (emulsions, lotions, gels, oils, ointments, relaxing products), which is often caused by poor nutritive supply due to non homogeneous vascularization of the tis sue which in turn impairs functionality. Zedomine is a valid product for treatment of cold- or fatigue-related myalgia; for foot and leg decongestants and also as an adjuvant to prevent hair loss by activating the microcirculation, so as to improve the ha ir developing system. A rational and careful evaluation of the various application moments of Zedomine enables us to understand why it is used in sectors that would seem to differ from each other, either in terms of pathogenetic physionomy or by cl inical manifes-tations. Indeed, we know that at the root of alterations such as cellulitis (dystrophic dermo-hypodermosis), muscular pains, hypoxic lesions of the hair etc. there are often nutritive deficiencies which can be put down to microvascular lesions, large or small. In addition, it is very well known that reduced functioning in organs is caused by heterogenous tissular irrigation, either primitive or secondary, and mainly affects those regions where hemolymphatic circulation is already not ph ysiologically perfect. It is therefore obvious that a problem in tissue/vessel exchanges, which would be easy to resolve in anoth-er area, might signal the start of a condition which is likely to become chronic in some places. It is in these cases that th e reactive impulse provided by Zedomine has the greatest effect: scories are rapidly mobilized, flow is successively increased, there is a gradual return to normal. With this in mind, the application of Zedomine has been found to be successful not only in the case of cellulitis, but also in myalgia resulting from colds or fatigue, or in products intended to efficiently activate microcirculation -and, consequently, nourishment - for balanced hair growth; or similarly in creams which relieve the feeling of heaviness in the feet and legs.