Collagen's Role in Healing Skin Tissue
Collagen is the most prevalent protein in the human body. There are at least 13, possibly 15 or 16 distinct types of collagen. Each type has its own unique molecular form for a specific function for a specific purpose. For collagen to be effective in healing wounds in human skin tissue, it must be in the proper molecular form that is specific for skin tissue and it must have self-assembling capabilities. Collagen that does not fulfill these requirements is not effective for healing wounds.
The extremely beneficial role of collagen (in its proper molecular and specific functional form) in the wound healing of skin tissue has been well documented worldwide in the past 70 to 80 years. Collagen has been available in Europe for a number of years. Now BioCore, Inc. is making such collagen available to the American market for the wound healing of skin tissue.
The human body is already pre-programmed (DNA) to heal itself. The living body is like a complicated computer software program. Whenever there is a wound to the skin tissue, the body is programmed to respond to such a wound with a series of complex sequential cellular and vascular activities. The sequential wound healing activity stages begin with hemostasis - bleeding has to be stopped. The reaction - inflammation stage is next, where the wound bed has to be cleaned up and infection has to be controlled. This is followed by regeneration, where granulation and vascularization of tissue occurs to fill in the wound. Remodeling is the final stage where new tissue is strengthened.
For the wound to heal, the body must deliver the proper resources in adequate amounts to the wound bed to sustain the complex sequence of cellular activity. The cellular activity is the body's natural "manufacturing" process that occurs in the wound bed. The body uses the resources delivered to the wound bed to manufacture the appropriate materials to close the wound. The body has to deliver specific and adequate resources to the wound bed for the body to be able to sustain the complete sequential cellular activity required for the body's pre-programmed natural wound healing process to be successful.
Whenever adequate resources are not being delivered to the wound bed, or there is wound bed interference with the cellular activity, the complex sequential wound healing process can be severely hindered or stopped, causing the wound not to close.
Various problems, such as genetic disorders, vascular insufficiency, infection, nutrition and so on, can hinder the body's ability to deliver adequate resources to the wound bed. Some of the major causes of wound bed interference with cellular activity are improper moisture content and inadequate delivery of oxygen; pH needs to be in the range 5.5 - 6, and infection needs to be less than 100,000 parts per gram. Fungus and yeast need to be controlled.
The care giver needs to be careful that any medication or product that is placed in the wound bed does not interfere with the body's natural cellular activity or trigger and autoimmune reaction. These types of problems have to be properly addressed, or the complex sequential wound healing process can be severely hindered or stopped.
Anytime there is an open wound in the skin tissue, the body is in jeopardy from infection and other complications. Any wound to the skin tissue must be closed as soon as possible to eliminate unnecessary exposure and danger to the body. For the diabetic patient, it is extremely critical that the diabetic lesions are closed as soon as possible so that the detrimental diabetic wound progression to amputation can be curtailed or stopped. An unclosed wound in the skin tissue can be a conduit that can result in septicemia (blood poisoning).
Collagen is one of the body's key resources used beneficially throughout the wound healing process, and is also and actual skin tissue component. When collagen is made available in the wound bed the body's natural resources being delivered to the wound bed can probably be allocated to other wound healing cellular activities. The body is extremely practical and flexible in using its resources.