Skin viscoelasticity during hormone replacement therapy for climacteric ageing

摘要

BACKGROUND: Climacteric ageing refers to the period of women's life centred by the perimenopause. This step of life is responsible for initiating skin atrophic withering and slackness responsible for changes in the viscoelasticity of the dermal connective tissue. Some women benefit from hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for controlling some unpleasant internal climacteric changes (osteoporosis, vasomotor instability, ...). OBJECTIVE: To investigate some corrective effects of HRT on the functional damages in the dermal tensile strength. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was performed on 200 healthy Caucasian women. In vivo skin viscoelasticity was assessed using the suction method. RESULTS: Skin distensibility and hysteresis appeared increased at menopause with or without HRT. By contrast, the biological elasticity significantly decreased out of HRT. CONCLUSION: Some drugs and cosmetics might attempt at improving such viscoelastic attributes of the skin at menopause.