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Green tea extract helps remove facial wrinkles fast

A combination of LED light therapy and a lotion made from green tea extract is far more effective at removing facial wrinkles than conventional therapies, according to a team of German researchers.

The combination of high-intensity light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a lotion made of green tea extract works ten times faster than a similar anti-wrinkle treatment that uses LEDs alone, according to the findings published in the journal Crystal Growth and Design.

The researchers, Andrei P Sommer and Dan Zhu, wrote that researchers have used light-therapy, or photo-therapy, for more than 40 years to help heal wounds. And in recent years, scientists have used high-intensity LEDs, similar to those used in automotive tail lights and computers, to help reduce skin wrinkles when used daily for several months.

But exposure to intense LED light is also involved in generating high levels of reactive oxygen species as by-products that can potentially damage cells. To combat that effect, the researchers combined the LED with a potent antioxidant in green tea extract called epigallocatechin gallate.

Writing in the journal, the two researchers said they applied a daily combination of LED light and green tea extract to the facial wrinkles of a human volunteer for one month. The combination treatment resulted in smoother skin, including “less pronounced wrinkle levels, shorter wrinkle valleys, and juvenile complexion,” the scientists wrote.

The treatment showed promising results in only one-tenth of the time it took for LED therapy alone to reduce wrinkles.

The two scientists said their findings could form the basis for “an effective facial rejuvenation programme” and lead to a new understanding of the effect of reactive oxygen species on cellular ageing.