New survey shows that women
know the cause of age spots, but don't choose to protect themselves
Alliance for Aging Research Releases New Brochure To Educate
Boomers on Prevention and Treatment of Age Spots and other Skin
Conditions
Washington, DC, September 5, 2003--
The Alliance for Aging Research, a not-for-profit health advocacy
organization, today released the findings of a new survey that showed 80
percent of women with age spots knew that sun was the cause, but an even
greater number said they’d made no effort to alter their sun exposing
behavior. In reality, these flat brown marks commonly found on the
hands, face and forearms, are preventable and treatable. For those
surveyed with age spots, key findings included:
- Nearly half of the women said their
spots made them feel older than their actual age, and a quarter said
their spots made them embarrassed or want to hide their skin
- Women are more affected emotionally
by age spots than men but, in general, Americans view age spots as
an unavoidable part of growing older
- More than half of women with age
spots did not realize they could be treated, and only one in ten had
spoken to a physician or specialist about treatment
Although 60 percent of female age spot
sufferers are highly or extremely interested in new treatments for age
spots, they are not talking to their physicians about how to protect
themselves against the condition or how to treat the marks once they
have them.
In response to the survey findings,
Daniel Perry, executive director of the Alliance for Aging Research
commented, “Women need to feel more comfortable talking to their
doctors about how to defend their skin against the sometimes harsh
effects of Mother Nature.”
The main cause of age spots, as with
skin cancer, is overexposure to the sun. Taking steps to limit your time
in the sun will not only reduce your chances of developing skin cancer,
it may also reduce your risk of age spots and other cosmetic skin
conditions.
"There appears to be a disconnect
between people's understanding of the cause of the condition and their
willingness to change their behavior to prevent it," said
dermatologist Dr. Helen Torok. "This survey shows that many women
are bothered by the appearance of age spots, however, and it's important
that they know safe and effective treatments are available."
In order to provide more information
on how to protect your skin from age spots, skin cancer, sagging and
wrinkling, the Alliance for Aging Research just released a new brochure,
Skin Deep: What You Need to Know to Keep Your Skin Healthy and Young.
The free brochure includes:
- 10 tips to keep your skin looking
young
- How to protect yourself from skin
cancer
- What you can do about wrinkles
- Treatment options for age spots and
sagging skin
To order the brochure, log on to the
Alliance website at http://www.agingresearch.org
or call 202-293-2856.
The survey and the extended results
are also available on the Alliance website. Visitors will be able to
take the survey and compare their answers with the total response sample
of 1,000 men and women. The survey was funded by an unrestricted
educational grant from Galderma Laboratories
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