Dry face. Dry hands. Dry skin on your arms and legs, and across your body even after using moisturizing creams. Does this sound familiar? If it does, your skin might lack an essential protein called filaggrin.
Symptoms of filaggrin deficiency include dry spots and cracks in the skin as well as dry and scaly skin across your body, often noticed on the arms and legs. These symptoms describe the condition ichthyosis vulgaris, also known as fish scale skin.
If you lack filaggrin in your skin, frequent applications of traditional moisturizing creams may not be effective in soothing your dry skin. When the skin has low levels of filaggrin, it contains less water-binding and hydrating amino acids that are essential for the structure of the skin barrier. Therefore, it becomes dry and cracked.
Filaggrin is a protein that occurs naturally in the skin. It’s vital for the skin’s ability to remain hydrated because it breaks down into water-binding amino acids or “natural moisturizing factors” (NMFs) that help keep the skin properly hydrated. Without NMFs, the skin barrier dries out and cracks. This can lead to itching and leave the skin more prone to infection because it becomes easier for bacteria, such as Staphylococcus, to enter the skin.
There are two main causes of lowered filaggrin levels:
Both causes can result in very dry and sensitive skin that requires tailored skincare.
Studies show that up to 50% of people affected by atopic dermatitis have filaggrin deficiency. Environmental factors also play a role in the development of atopic dermatitis—but having filaggrin deficiency increases the risk.
If a child first develops atopic dermatitis, it becomes more difficult to “grow out” of the condition with filaggrin-deficient skin vs. with normal filaggrin levels. Filaggrin deficiency also increases the risk of developing severe eczema.
Sjögren’s Disease is distinguished by a chronic inflammation that involves the body’s exocrine glands (i.e., glands that produce fluids). The most common symptoms of Sjögren’s are dry eyes and dry mouth. However, most people with the condition also experience dry skin or even ichthyosis vulgaris (fish scale skin). This is caused by the chronic skin inflammation associated with Sjögren’s due to overactivity of the immune system, which results in decreased filaggrin production.
biomee™ Dry Skin is uniquely tailored to nourish and moisturize filaggrin-deficient dry skin. The cream hydrates the skin by replenishing the amino acids it lacks due to lowered filaggrin levels.