Beauty with a medical prescription
Medications that pass without pain or glory by the pharmacological vademecum and soon after they become "cult" cosmetics
Many of our favorite cosmetics use active ingredients originally used in the field of medicine. In some cases, these functional jumps are the result of chance. Others have been "sought after" by cosmetic chemists and formulators who sensed clues in certain assets.
Hair loss lotions for hair, anti-aging creams, serums that stimulate the growth of eyelashes ... Do you want to know the medical origin of each one?
1. From the kit to the toiletry bag
Anti-hemorrhoidal. The jump was produced by "popular instinct". Extending the ointment destined to finish with the piles in the contour of the eyes to deflate the bags is a gesture that has been repeated for decades. We do not know who was the first daring, but it has its logic.
Explains the dermatologist Elia Roo, coordinator of the Spanish Group of Aesthetic and Therapeutic Dermatology of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : "Anti-hemorrhoids contain corticosteroids with an anti-inflammatory effect and active as the gotu kola, which shares this same action in addition to being diuretic. " The best anti-craze on the market? No, the doctor is emphatic when it comes to alerting her about continued use: "Do not forget that it's about corticosteroids."
Retinoic acid. Its use as an anti-acne medication was in the background when it was discovered its power to treat deeper wrinkles, renew skin and improve the quality of collagen.
Vitamin C. "Among his medical faculties was the treatment of anemia," says Dr. Roo. In the mid-90s, it became the most sought after ingredient to formulate antioxidant creams that slow aging while rescuing the luminosity of the skin.
2. Braking the hair fall. The origin.
Minoxidil. It remains an unbeatable asset when it comes to safeguarding hair in cases of alopecia, but originally, as Dr. Roo recalls, "it was an antihypertensive intended to lower tension." Soon the relationship between the supply of this drug and a gradual improvement of capillary density was seen. Nowadays, it is still the anti-fall asset par excellence.
Finasteride. How could a medicine to treat the prostate have come to be another of the great principles against alopecia? The process was the same, Roo tells us: "Among the patients, usually men over 50 years old and with high chances of suffering from androgenetic alopecia, braking was also observed in the fall".
Lumigan. The last temptation A "eye drop" applied at the base of the eyelashes promises to multiply the volume and length of them. Dr. Ráez Balbastre - a specialist in ophthalmology at the Jiménez Díaz Foundation in Madrid - makes it clear that his active principle, the bimatoprost,"
Is a prostaglandin that has been used for several years to decrease the intraocular pressure of patients with glaucoma [eye disease characterized by increased intraocular pressure], and that is currently their indication." Can it be used for more flirtatious purposes? "
If the product falls on the eye, it is not dangerous, but its prolonged use can trigger adverse effects, such as hyperpigmentation of the iris and periocular skin or redness of the eye. It is absolutely contraindicated, in addition, in patients with an antecedent of ocular infection due to herpes or inflammation. "
The current grower tabs contain prostaglandin derivatives. In this case, as the specialist points out, "an applicator is incorporated to extend the solution along the upper eyelid and prevent it from entering the eye, thus decreasing the risk of absorption and the appearance of adverse effects."
Currently, as Dr. Roo points out, "Prostaglandin derivatives are being tested for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia".
3. From the operating room to the aesthetic center.
Botulinum toxin. From strabismus to wrinkle. Since the 70s, ophthalmologists manage botulinum toxin (powerful poison that causes muscle paralysis) with dexterity for the treatment of strabismus. Dr. Ráez Balbastre explains: "Botulinum toxin blocks the release of a neurotransmitter (acetylcholine) at the junction between the nerve and the muscle, thus preventing contraction and thus causing muscle paralysis. It is a very powerful toxin, but used in low doses, its paralyzing effect can be beneficial in some diseases.
It is also used in the treatment of dystonia (involuntary muscle contractions), facial paralysis, hyperhidrosis ... "Aesthetic doctors use it to freeze wrinkles of expression, with results that are maintained between 3 and 6 months.
Polydioxanone threads. Sutures of youth. Fifty years ago, they were relegated to surgical use, being the safest material for sewing after open-heart surgeries. "The treatment of the sagging of the face by introducing these threads, which are reabsorbed naturally, creates a kind of tense mesh under the skin, offering a very natural result and, medium and long, promoting the formation of new collagen", describes Elia Roo
Hyalurodinase It is a family of enzymes used in oncology to improve the reception of chemotherapy. Aesthetically, it has been proven that hydrolyzes hyaluronic acid (unfolding of molecules by the action of water). Although its use is not yet approved, as Roo points out, "it is very promising when it comes to dissolving possible lumps or treatments with hyaluronic acid if something goes wrong in the final result".
4. The reverse also happens.
Pharmacovigilance does not sleep. In 2012, the transposition of European Directives 2010/84 / EU , on pharmacovigilance, and 2011/62 / EU , on preventing the entry of counterfeit medicines into the legal supply chain, to include cosmetics in the same regulation that regulates the manufacture, distribution and sale of medicines.
As Dr. Elia Roo narrates, it is also common for the reverse process to occur. "When the European Medicines Agency notes that a cosmetic treatment has different effects, it requires changing its indication."
It has occurred with active ingredients such as hydroquinone - a common ingredient in anti-stain cosmetics - presented in concentrations of more than 2%. "With the soy isoflavones used in nutricosmetics to alleviate the effects of menopause and strengthen the hair, the same thing happened," recalls Roo. Vitamin K has also recently become a drug for the treatment of dermatosis, and only topical use is allowed.
