Dermatoporosis: a further step to recognition

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Dermatoporosis: a further step to recognitionIn this issue, Humbert et al. 1 report on 'Bateman purpura (Dermatoporosis): a localized scurvy treated by topical vitamin C -double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial'.The authors have to be acknowledged for conducting this study that focuses on one sign, often the earlier one, of dermatoporosis.They conclude that, as the forearm treated with a topical cosmeceutical containing 5% of vitamin C showed less signs after 12 weeks compared to a 'neutral cream', the purpura of dermatoporosis is due to vitamin C deficiency.It is not our wish to argue with the authors on the many potential interpretations behind this claim.Rather we appreciate that such a study contributes to a better understanding and recognition of dermatoporosis as a significant skin problem in the elderly.Skin ageing has long been considered only as a cosmetic issue.However, with increasing lifespan, we experience a functional dimension of skin ageing which extends beyond cosmetics and appearance.Ten years ago, we proposed the neologism dermatoporosis to cover different characteristics of a chronic cutaneous insufficiency/fragility syndrome, to understand underlying molecular mechanisms and to develop preventative or therapeutic strategies.2,3