A recent interview with Dr Harold Lancer, dermatologist to the stars ( including Kim Kardashian, Beyonce and Scarlett Johanssen) by nymag.com has me researching the effects of raised blood sugar like it's going out of fashion. Why? Firstly because one of the symptoms of PCOS is insulin resistance (read: uncontrolled or higher blood sugar than normal) and secondly, because Dr Lancer stated that diabetics have the world's worst skin! Read the full article here.
Diabetes is unfortunately a very common disease in Western society. Heart disease, damage to eyesight, kidneys and other parts of the body in a diabetic are caused by uncontrolled blood sugar a.k.a. high blood glucose levels. Insulin is a hormone that controls your blood sugar and allows glucose (sugar) from your blood to enter your cells and be used for energy. In a person with type 2 diabetes glucose remains in the blood stream due to insulin resistance (the cells are not responding normally to the signal, or resisting it) - there can be very high levels of insulin produced but the glucose is not entering the cells, resulting in blood sugar that is too high and for extended periods of time. This is when the damage takes place. The higher the blood sugar spikes and the more often this happens, the more damage that takes place in the kidneys, eyes, gums, blood vessel walls and the rest of the body. The damage is mediated by AGEs or glycation end products - proteins or lipids that become glycated as a result of exposure to sugar. They are a factor in ageing and in the development or progression of many degenerative diseases, such a Alzheimer's.
But how is this relevant to your skin I hear you ask? Well the raised blood sugar also affects skin cells, causing glycation, hence Dr Lancer's considerable quote. Glycated skin is
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