Dermagenetics is making a big hit at large spas.

For all of the massage therapists out there, who work at a large spa or work with skin care products for your clients congradulations because the skin care field is improving all of the time. First introduced in 2005 (but not sold to the general public), the Dermagenetics Skin Care System is the first comprehensive system of personalized (mass customized) skin care product manufacturing based on genetic testing that measures single nucleotide polymorphisms (pronounced “snips”) in DNA.

The initial Dermagenetics process includes swabbing the inside of a person’s cheek, after an initial consultation. The sample is then sealed inside a bar-coded envelope, sent to a lab and tested at five gene sites. They include skin-aging, wrinkling, collagen breakdown, irritation and the skin’s ability to defend against environmental stresses.

The Oxidative Stress Assessment is a powerful DNA-based predictive tool designed to help measure an individual's inherent genetic capacity to combat oxidative stress. This assessment measures and predicts the body’s ability to efficiently control oxygen free radical damage, eliminate hydrogen peroxide, protect and repair oxidized phospholipids and destroy harmful environmental compounds and pollutants.

Dr. Scott C. Wise was interviewed, in online article about DNA and Skincare, by Dallas voice.com, and he is a proponent of Dermagenetics and recommends it for patients who have skin damage as well as those seeking early preventive treatment. It is effective for both men and women, but not recommended for children under the age of 13.

“You think off the top of your head that the market for this is people who have had significant sun damage. Certainly, that’s true. It does a great job repairing damaged skin,” Wise says. “It’s also true, though, that it’s almost never too early to start looking at it, in terms of preventive therapy. I have a couple of very young patients who are using it, too. It’s the young population who is still doing most of the sunbathing,” Wise adds.

Wise is director of HealthWise Family Medicine in Frisco and was in private practice for many years at Medical City Dallas Hospital, where he served as Chief of Family Practice from 2001-03..