What is the real danger of collagen
'14.08.2019'
Source: Rambler
The fibrillar protein that forms the basis of the connective tissue of the body is called collagen. Most of it is in the joints, and it affects their health. Collagen is the foundation of the skin.
After 25 years of life, this substance in the human body is almost not produced, so the joints begin to work worse and the skin ages, reminds Rambler. However, collagen exists in the form of solutions and food additives. But not everything is so simple with the intake of this substance, scientists argue that it may be useless or even dangerous for the body.
Collagen for oral administration
Fibrillar protein is not only found in the joints and bones of humans, but also in animals. Such a popular dish of Russian cuisine, as homemade jelly, on 80% consists of collagen. But marketers have already taught all people, including Russians, that for general health promotion and skin rejuvenation, it is necessary to use vitamins and collagen nutritional supplements. In Japan and South Korea, collagen bottles are sold even in street vending machines. Meanwhile, scientists are skeptical of such drugs.
Dermatologist Whitney Bow from New York University states in his writings that the action of collagen, when administered orally, is very limited in the human body. Getting into the aggressive acid-base environment of the stomach, this substance is partially destroyed and does not fully penetrate into the skin cells and joints.
But worse, synthesized collagen can be harmful. In food additives, it is not only of animal origin, but also created from seafood. Its structured compound is much more efficient in human cells, but can cause side effects.
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In Germany, the International Commission for Ethics of Freiburg (FEKI) conducted a clinical study of the effects of collagen on 114 healthy women aged 45 to 65 years. Collagens from pigs, collagens from seaweed, mollusks and fish skin and placebo powder were used for the intake. Volunteer groups did not know who was taking what drugs they used during 8 weeks. The test areas were wrinkles around the eyes and forearm. For the analysis used the measurement of wrinkles and corn biopsy.
Already after 2 weeks of taking, 17% volunteers who took collagen from the pig, and 39% women who consumed collagen from seafood, had allergic reactions. 6 people of them were even forced to cease their participation in testing due to the fact that they needed medical assistance!
In addition to edema, including the reaction of Quincke, 2 women were found to have serious malfunctions in heart rhythms. Well, the result of the study was very minor changes (slightly more than 2%) in the condition of the skin around the eyes and calluses of the forearms compared with the data of women who took placebo.
Collagen injection under the skin
There are not so many studies of reactions to collagen in solutions that are injected inside and under the skin, and all of them are commercial, ordered by cosmetic companies. Such injections are considered harmless, but have a short-term cosmetic effect - no more than 3 months. Among the side effects, experts call small swelling and bruising.
However, doctors from the University Ophthalmology Clinic in Macburg, Germany, in their annual reports indicate that among their patients, about 10% are those who were admitted to the clinic just after the "beauty injections."
The diagnosis in such patients is always associated with an infection under the skin, which ultimately affected the eyelids and the eyes themselves. Moreover, it took years for patients to undergo treatment and subsequent vision restoration, which were often paid for not by insurance companies, but by personal funds.
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Most recently, the American magazine LiveScience published an article in which an ophthalmologist, Michelle Karl from Los Angeles, and her colleagues from the Retina Vitruss Associated Medical Clinic network reported cases of vision loss in several women and one man after contacting beauty salons. All of them were given injections of bovine collagen biogel into the forehead area.
After that, they were forced to turn to ophthalmologists. Each of the patients had an acute impairment of blood supply to the fundus of one or even both eyes. A man after injection of collagen in the vicinity of the hairline further diagnosed a violation of the patency of blood vessels, which led to a partial cessation of blood supply to the retina of the left eye. American ophthalmologists did not succeed in fully restoring the vision of their patients.
