Defying Time
Medical therapies and skincare regimens soften the effects of the aging process.
by Bill Donahue
Sanjay Batra, Ph.D., was on the cusp of 50 when he first noticed a subtle but unmistakable change in his appearance: hair loss toward the back of his head.
“Until then I had been blessed with very good hair and good genetics,” he says. “Losing my hair profoundly affected me. It made me very upset, short of depressed; it was a kick-in-the-gut kind of feeling. I would go so far as to say that it affected my self-perception and confidence.”
Just as the sun rises each day, humans can be assured that their bodies will show signs of aging as they grow older. The cells in the human body are programmed to perform basic biological functions, as well as to divide and multiply. The more cells divide, however, the older and more damaged they become. Eventually they lose their ability to function properly. In the body, the effects of this cellular breakdown appear in a multitude of ways, such as changes in skin tone and texture, low energy, reduced muscle mass, altered sleep patterns, and, in Dr. Batra’s case, hair loss.