Slowing Aging Process with 'Skin' Care

HOUSTON - Trying to appear more youthful can cost loads of money and take so much energy and time. Many people would do anything to tweak their genes and erase years off of their face. One company says it is using new information about genes to make products and trying to fix the "root of the problem."

Former Miss USA Shannon Marketic says she has ditched her Botox injections for a new skin regimen.

"I feel like this is a medicine I put on my face. I treat my face, so it's actually turning back the clock quite a bit," says Marketic. She is using Nu Skin AgeLoc products. It is the latest generation of options that scientists say is based on human genes.

The makers of the products say that it is supposed to provide fresher, more youthful skin.

"For the very first time, we are able to get to the source of age, the DNA, the chromosomes -- and that's where the discovery lies. We have found the youth gene clusters, that is the term, we are using, which is the source of aging, particularly on the skin," explains Dr. Bas Nair, who serves on the Nu Skin medical advisory board.

Dr. Nair says the products come on the heel of the Human Genome Project, which helped researchers discover new things about the human body, like the structure of skin and the aging process itself.

Dr. Mark Bartlett explains that a computer system analyzed this information and helped scientists produce new anti-aging products.

When FOX 26 Healthworks first started researching this product, several websites questioned the legitimacy of the company. Upon further investigation, the company is very legitimate and followed in medical studies by Stanford University.

"It's important to understand these are not drugs or chemicals your body has never seen before. For the most part, we are investigating the types of phytochemicals, or plant nutrients, that your body sees everyday, if you have a healthy diet so it's zeroing in on one of those ones that has the most effect," says Dr. Mark Bartlett with Nu Skin.

Marketic says it is helped her, since she started using over a three-month period.

"I saw it within the first five days. The pores (were smaller), the texture of my skin was much smoother, more hydrated and the fine lines around my eyes, lips, and forehead diminished -- absolutely diminished. Now, I'm still seeing results as every week goes by," says Marketic.

The makers of the product say it works best when coupled with a small galvanic spa, which conducts currents and helps skin become more receptive to the ingredients.

"We can reverse part of the aging process off of the surface of the skin, such as hydration, texture, smoothness, pigmentation, all of these are aging processes in our body. We can slow it down, we can never stop the aging process, at least as for now, but we can slow it down," explains Dr. Nair.

"People have seen a big change so far. I think we have a long way to go, but the point is that if you're going to go forward and develop anti-aging products, you can't ignore this branch of science. It takes us one step closer to the secrets of life and to aging gracefully," says Dr. Bartlett.

The company plans to release a new nutritional supplement in October, that it believes can help slow down the aging process from the inside out.

On the Web:

Nu Skin -- http://www.nuskin.com/en_US/home.html