Exposome

The expo­so­me encom­pas­ses all the envi­ron­men­tal influen­ces a per­son is expo­sed to over the cour­se of their life. The term comes from epi­de­mio­lo­gy and com­ple­ments the geno­me: along­side gene­tic make-up, exter­nal fac­tors play a major role in how the body and skin age.

Appli­ca­ti­on

A spe­ci­fic skin expo­so­me has been descri­bed. It includes solar radia­ti­on, air pol­lu­ti­on, smo­king, diet, sleep, stress, cli­ma­te and skin­ca­re habits. The­se fac­tors often act tog­e­ther, for ins­tance through oxi­da­tive stress and chro­nic inflamm­a­ti­on, and acce­le­ra­te wrink­le for­ma­ti­on, pig­men­ta­ti­on dis­or­ders and the wea­k­e­ning of the skin bar­ri­er. Sun­light is con­side­red a par­ti­cu­lar­ly important sin­gle fac­tor (pho­to­aging).

Good to know

Unli­ke gene­tics, the expo­so­me can lar­ge­ly be influen­ced. Con­sis­tent sun pro­tec­tion, not smo­king, a balan­ced diet and suf­fi­ci­ent sleep address exact­ly the­se fac­tors. It is not yet pos­si­ble to mea­su­re the expo­so­me in full; it ser­ves main­ly as a frame­work for prevention.

Matching tre­at­ment at Swiss Der­ma Cli­nic: Skin lon­ge­vi­ty (pre­ven­ti­on)