Issue link: https://www.ascpskindeepdigital.com/i/325995
38 ASCP Skin Deep July/August 2014 ascp and you: news notes Probiotic Affects Skin Sensitivity A new clinical study shows reactive, sensitive skin can be improved by taking the probiotic Lactobacillus paracasei NCC 2461 (ST11) as a daily nutritional supplement. Participants in the study showed improvement in their rate of skin barrier recovery (measured by the rate of transepidermal water loss), skin dryness and roughness, and reactivity to irritants after two months on the supplement. The skin's levels of sodium lactate and urea, both natural moisturizing factors, also increased. The double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted in Lyons, France, and funded by L'Oréal and Nestlé. Results were published in the journal Beneficial Microbes 5, no. 2 (2014): 137–145 and can be read in full at http:// wageningenacademic.metapress.com/ content/3010r1w4563t5746/fulltext.pdf. The National Aesthetics Spa Network (NASN) is now offering advanced education scholarships for spa professionals. Several scholarships to programs at advanced specialty schools will be offered each year for licensed estheticians, massage therapists, and nail technicians. "Our purpose is education, so offering scholarships is a natural progression of our mission," says Denise Fuller, NASN's cofounder and director. NASN is a nonprofit organization committed to providing affordable, product-neutral education to spa professionals across the United States. NASN's first scholarship is from MediNail Learning Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for their online Medical Nail Technician Program. "This program is designed to enhance the success of nail technicians and to further their career opportunities," says podiatrist Robert Spalding, who is cofounder of the school. "These technicians are trained to work appropriately on chronically ill clients, such as diabetics." To check out the program, see www.medinail.com. Applications for this scholarship can be downloaded at www.nasnbiz.com and must be submitted before December 1, 2014. The scholarship will be awarded in January 2015. Additional scholarships will be announced at www.nasnbiz.com as they become available. Owners of advanced training programs who are interested in offering a scholarship through NASN should contact info@nasnbiz.com. Mark Tarnopolsky, a professor of pediatrics and exercise science at McMasters University in Ontario, Canada, discovered that skin composition in a sample group of sedentary adults over 65 changed dramatically when participants exercised for just 30 minutes, twice a week, for three months. Results were measured by skin biopsies taken before and after the study. The participants all had normal skin for their age at the outset, but later showed changes in the thickness of the dermis and stratum corneum that reflected the type of skin composition expected in 20–40 year olds. Previous studies that included a wider age group, as well as a study on mice, confirmed that the skin of regular exercisers is structurally more youthful than expected for their age. While other typical aspects of skin aging (such as wrinkles) were not affected, the difference in skin composition was described as "remarkable" by Tarnopolsky, who presented his soon-to-be-published results at the American Society for Sports Medicine's annual meeting in April 2014. Exercise and Skin Aging New Scholarships for Advanced Education