Source: Science and Technology Daily
Recently, the sheep placenta "stem" of a well-known actor in China has also made sheep placenta follow the hot search.
On the online platform, the "sheep placenta literature" imitation show was played by everyone. In the entertainment industry, sheep placenta is often linked to "appearance is not old". So, can sheep placenta really keep people young forever?
"In fact, sheep placenta is a component of sheep embryos and placental cells, which is essentially no different from protein." Li Gang, chief physician of the Department of Plastic Surgery and Aesthetics of the Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, said in an interview with the Science and Technology Daily reporter that the anti-aging beauty effect of sheep placenta has been controversial in the academic community and cannot be adopted by regular hospitals, so the plastic surgery department of public hospitals has no medical beauty project of injecting sheep placenta.
Sheep placenta is derived from sheep embryos and placenta
"In 1931, Dr. Paul Nihan of Switzerland successfully saved his life by extracting a living cell from a lamb embryo for the first time and injecting it into a patient with a damaged thyroid gland. Later, the patient died in 1962 at the age of 89. Li Gang introduced that this was considered to have a landmark significance for the development of medicine at that time.
The active proteins are extracted from the liver of lamb embryos about 1 to 3 months of gestation, and impurities, heat-sensitive proteins and various risk factors that may lead to allergic reactions are removed; then the extracted active proteins are isolated and treated through advanced technology; finally, the lyophilization technology is used to maintain the activity of these cells, and sheep placenta is made in this way. "Since there is also a part of the active ingredient in sheep placenta that is extracted from the sheep placenta, the commonly referred to sheep placenta includes sheep placenta and sheep embryonic hormone." Li Gang said.
"The protein content in sheep placenta is more than 80%, the amino acid content is rich, the variety is complete, the proportion is reasonable, and the fat content is less than 10%. Sheep placenta is rich in lecithin, brain phospholipids, lipopolysaccharides, multivitamins and trace elements. Li Gang introduced that sheep placenta also contains transfer factors, protein active factors, collagen, organophosphorus complexes, amniotic acids and nucleic acid compounds.
Since its inception, sheep placenta has been regarded as a "miracle drug" that can "rejuvenate children", and is highly sought after by beauty lovers, and has been prepared into a variety of dosage forms, including injections, oral liquids, capsules, lyophilized powders and so on. Among them, the capsules and oral liquids are taken by mouth, but due to the production process and other reasons, the content of sheep placenta in them has been limited to a certain extent. Depending on the refining technique, sheep placenta freeze-dried powder can be used topically or taken orally. Sheep placenta injection is a professional medical beauty product, and the requirements for the injection environment are more demanding.
The use of sheep placenta is not legal on the mainland
Under the aura of stars, the "bubble" of sheep placenta is blowing bigger and bigger, but in fact, there are no research results in the academic community to support its anti-aging effect. At present, the vast majority of domestic and foreign research on sheep placenta is carried out at the cellular or animal level. In foreign countries, most of the research on sheep placenta involves only the most basic physiological and pharmacological effects; in China, the research data on the anti-aging function of sheep placenta mainly comes from an experiment on fruit flies and rats.
"There are great differences in the physiological mechanisms of humans and animals, and 'animal experiments prove effective' cannot be equated with 'effective for humans.'" Li Gang said that there has been no scientific and reasonable clinical trial to prove the safety of sheep placenta and its anti-aging effectiveness, so no one can estimate what kind of results will result from the use of sheep placenta in humans. A small number of animal experiment results alone are not enough to support the conclusion that sheep placenta can help humans resist aging.
Not only is there no evidence to support the anti-aging effects of sheep placenta, but there are also risks associated with the use of sheep placenta. Li Gang believes that sheep and people are of different origins, many sheep carry bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms, the human body does not have antibodies, once there is allergy, tissue rejection and other situations, it will produce great health risks. "Even once a problem is urgently sent to the hospital, the doctor may not be able to determine whether the source of the problem is a person or a sheep in a short period of time, resulting in its inability to accurately and timely rescue." Li Gang tips.
In addition, the extraction and refining of sheep placenta is a very complex technology, which can only be completed in the laboratory now, it is absolutely impossible to carry out large-scale mass production, and the preservation requirements of living cells are extremely high, and the purified sheep placenta can only be stored for up to 6 months even in extremely harsh ambient temperatures, which is not suitable for long-distance transportation, so it is impossible to become a mass consumer product.
In April 2015, the Swiss medical regulator completely stopped the anti-aging therapy of sheep placenta in the country. In this regard, Peter Balzli, spokesman for the Swiss Drug Regulatory Agency, said in an exclusive interview a few days ago that there is no scientific evidence that sheep placenta anti-aging therapy has any anti-aging effect, and the therapy can produce significant health risks.
In other words, the use of sheep placenta in Switzerland is no longer legal. In this case, it is impossible for the mainland to import such products, and all the sheep placenta circulating in the domestic market has no 'name'. In order to properly use sheep placenta in China, it is necessary to obtain double approval from China and Switzerland to achieve it. Li Gang said.
In August 2008, the National Health Commission has clearly stated in the "Reply of the Ministry of Health on the Use of Sheep Placenta as An Ordinary Food Raw Material" (Health Supervision Letter [2008] No. 322) that the sheep placenta contains a variety of bioactive ingredients, and lacks extensive consumption history and food safety certificates in the mainland, and cannot be used as ordinary food raw materials. Health authorities on the mainland have also not issued permits to inject sheep placenta into humans.
At present, the plastic surgery department of public hospitals does not have a project to inject sheep placenta. "Many private beauty institutions have provided sheep placenta anti-aging services, but due to high prices and poor anti-aging effects, they have been complained about by customers." Li Gang said, "Many customers have responded, spent a lot of money, and have great hopes, but their appearance has not changed, and they feel very disappointed." ”
Anti-aging programs also need to be individualized
Anti-aging projects are a very important category in the medical aesthetic industry, and the variety of projects is dizzying. Moreover, the types of projects are updated frequently, and every once in a while, a "new concept" of anti-aging will appear.
"At present, the vast majority of anti-aging medical beauty programs are aimed at the three major manifestations of skin aging, including skin tone, skin texture and shape." Li Gang introduced that with age, the skin will appear pigment changes, such as pigmentation spots, dull skin tone, sallow yellow, etc., for this type of pigmentation changes, the current medical beauty projects have picoseconds, ultra-dermic seconds, etc.; with the aggravation of aging, skin texture will appear large pores, fine lines and wrinkles, rough and other problems, for skin problems can be through water light needles, microneedles and other classic medical beauty items, the skin is hydrated, while stimulating the collagen regeneration of the dermis layer, delaying skin aging; aging further deepening, will change the skin morphology, For example, sagging skin, sagging, etc., for such cases, it can be improved by using thermage, geratti, botulinum toxin injections, and the implementation of skinlift surgery.
The anti-aging needs of skin are different for each age group, and depending on the condition of the individual's skin, the appropriate aesthetic programs are different.
"Medical beauty anti-aging is not a single headache and foot pain, but a comprehensive treatment process based on the evolution of aging from the deep to the surface." Li Gang suggested that everyone can communicate with the doctor for the problems they mainly want to solve, and the professional doctor will customize the skin anti-aging program for each beauty seeker after comprehensive analysis according to the personal situation of the beauty seeker.
Li Gang reminded that everyone must not blindly follow the trend by looking at which medical beauty project is on fire, and we must choose professional institutions and doctors, which is also an important premise for choosing medical beauty products and projects.