It's a wonder I get anything done. I did shovel the walk, do two loads of wash, and register a car at Denver Motor Vehicle today. But this evening, all I've accomplished is to follow a meandering line through the web that led from an article about tamoxifen and wound healing to an interesting new product for wrinkles.

My journey started with an article from the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery about tamoxifen. Apparently, physicians have noted that women on tamoxifen have delayed wound healing but better scars. Tamoxifen delays cellular division in skin cells called fibroblasts by decreasing the production of various growth factors (GFs). These GFs are a good thing if you happen to slice your thumb open with the cat food can. But if you are an exuberant GF producer, even piercing your ears can result in an unsightly pile-up of skin known as a keloid or exuberant scar.

Now plastic surgeons hate exuberant scars, and the authors of this article proposed that tamoxifen may some day prove clinically useful in their profession to minimize scar formation. But I'm thinking a dense layer of fibroblasts below aging skin might be the very anti-wrinkle solution. So off to PubMed to check out whether anyone but me had the bright idea of putting transforming growth factor (TGF) into a topical cream.

And yes indeed, Topix pharmaceuticals had that very notion, and they combined TGF with vitamin C and black cohosh extract into Cell Rejuvenation Serum (aka CRS which also stands for Can't Remember S*** amongst women of a certain age). Preliminary studies suggest this dandy CRS significantly increases collagen production and decreases the appearance of wrinkles.

Shall I order some for sale through the office?