Using sunscreen every day may help protect against aging skin, according to a new study from Australia.
Although the benefits of sunscreen are well know when it comes to preventing sunburns and lowering skin cancer risks, researchers said rigorous studies were lacking on how sunscreen use affects the signs of skin aging, or photoaging.
….For their new study, Dr. Adele Green from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research and her colleagues analyzed data from 903 adults younger than 55 who were followed between 1992 and 1996.
Half of them were told to put sunscreen of SPF 15 or greater on their head, neck, arms and hands every morning, and to reapply when necessary. The others used sunscreen according to their own discretion.
At the start and end of the study, the researchers measured photoaging using the skin on the back of each person’s left hand. They found that over four years, there were no detectable changes in the skin condition of people who were told to use sunscreen daily, once other sun-related factors were taken into account.
Australians in that group were 24 percent less likely to show any increased aging – clinical changes that might not be visible to the naked eye – than those who decided on their own when to wear sunscreen, Green and her colleagues reported Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
More: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/03/us-sunscreen-aging-idUSBRE95215U20130603