Body News.(dietary supplements for anti-wrinkles)

Byline: Kristin Sainani

Wrinkle-Reducing Pill

M any dietary supplements claim to fight skin aging, but these promises are not always well supported by science. Now, a particular formulation has proved to have a modest effect on wrinkles. When dermatologists from South Korea fed hairless mice a mixture of vitamins C and E, pine tree bark (pycnogenol), and evening-primrose oil or a placebo and repeatedly exposed them to ultraviolet radiation for ten weeks, the treated mice showed 36 percent less severe wrinkling. In another study of 108 people, the supplement reduced crow's-feet by 15 percent compared with no effect from the placebo after 12 weeks. The combination blocks collagen-destroying proteins and increases collagen production, according to researcher Jin Tae Hong of Chungbuk National University, who was involved in the animal research. The supplement, L-Skin Care, is currently only available in Korea, but Hong points out that each component is available separately and they can be taken together. Still, he says, decreasing sun exposure is the best way for young women to prevent wrinkles.

Nicotine Zits

Besides contributing to dull, wrinkled skin, cigarettes may also cause acne. Researchers from the San Gallicano Dermatological Institute in Rome surveyed 1,000 women ages 25 to 50, and found that noninflammatory acne--characterized by blackheads, whiteheads, and cysts on the cheeks and forehead--afflicted eight times as many smokers (38 percent) as ...