What is a stem cell?
A stem cell is the most profound and nascent type of cell within an organism. It is entirely unspecialised, and represents the first ‘stage’ in the development of a cell within the human body, into its final purpose/specialism. As specialist cells in any of our major organs reach the end of their lifespan, it is stem cells that develop into these cell types and replenish them. This is the process of repairing and rebuilding the human body, and in the case of the skin, cell replenishment is the very essence of ‘age management’.
So, in theory, the route to perfect skin is as simple as ensuring that the epidermal skin cells remain healthy and continue to multiply. Easy, right? Well, sadly not. Because, as a person chronologically ages, epidermal stem cells decline in number. To put this into perspective, when you’re born, you could have 1 billion stem cells in your body. But by the time you’re 80, this figure has fallen to just 100-million. That’s 10% of the original figure!
So, in theory, the route to perfect skin is as simple as ensuring that the epidermal skin cells remain healthy and continue to multiply. Easy, right? Well, sadly not. Because, as a person chronologically ages, epidermal stem cells decline in number. To put this into perspective, when you’re born, you could have 1 billion stem cells in your body. But by the time you’re 80, this figure has fallen to just 100-million. That’s 10% of the original figure!