Ah, youth! But can we really cheat aging?
Print Edition
FIONA Wang, a 50-year-old Shanghai woman, beams when people say she looks 20 years younger. She attributes her youthful appearance to regular treatments she takes to slow the aging process.
“Twenty years ago, Chinese people would be ashamed to admit to having any kind of anti-aging treatment,” she says. “But now there’s no longer any shame in trying to look younger. It’s a matter of quality of life. Why not pursue a better body if it brings confidence and passion to life?”
The idea of retaining one’s youth is not new. Tales of a mystical “fountain of youth” appear in the writing of Herodotus in the 5th century BC. In the 16th century, Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon was searching for the fountain of youth when he stumbled across Florida.
The modern version of that “fountain” is an anti-aging industry that will globally be worth almost US$192 billion by 2019, according to a report by US-based Transparency Market Research.
Movies, magazines and personal vanity would have us believe that the secret to a happy life is looking young. From anti-wrinkle creams on pharmacy shelves to expensive, complicated surgeries, people are seeking ways to thwart the aging process.
Medical experts have cast doubt on the efficacy and even the safety of many anti-aging drugs, hormones, Botox and placenta injections and plastic surgeries. But that hasn’t stopped the pursuit.
For several years, China’s wealthy traveled to Switzerland for sheep placenta extract injections that were said to create a more youthful look and increase body energy.
In March, Switzerland officially reiterated its 2010 ban on use of sheep placenta extracts, citing possible adverse effects on body hormones and warning of possible cancer-causing risks.
Chen Yanying, who has worked in the anti-aging industry since 2010, says five years ago, she was organizing trips for wealthy clients, usually in groups of four, to have the treatment in Zurich. She says she could earn commissions of around 30 percent.
Now, other methods are gaining popularity, including injections of human and pig placenta extracts and cell regeneration.
Wang says her cell regeneration treatment in France was “fantastic.”
She began that treatment three years ago. One injection in Paris cost her 260,000 yuan (US$41,935). Wang says the price was “reasonable” since the treatment wasn’t widely recognized in China at that time.
“My wrinkles disappeared and my whole body felt more energetic,” says Wang.
Cell regeneration treatment started as early as in 2003 in European countries like Switzerland, Germany and France. There are now clinics in China providing this treatment as well.
“But it is still very controversial,” says Chen, s Shanghai native. “The regeneration of both healthy and old cells can be a risk to causing cancer.”
It’s not only women seeking to restore their youth.
Xie Tian, 62, a successful real estate businessman in Shanghai, was in a group of four who went to Switzerland five years ago for sheep placenta extract injections. The trip included a medical checkup, placenta extract injection and a sightseeing tour.
“The desire to keep young and good-looking is a common dream of both men and women,” he says. “But the cost, at around 150,000 yuan per person, was beyond the reach of average people.”
Angent Chen says it is still possible to find clinics in China to provide sheep placenta extract injections nowadays, but professional doctors no long recommend it.
The anti-aging focus seems to have shifted to using extracts from human placentas.
The treatment is based on the belief that new stem cells replace old ones, keeping the body and appearance younger.
“The minimum cost of the treatment is 200,000 yuan,” Chen says. “Only a small group of people can afford that. What’s more, the treatment is not just a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Once you start, you can never stop.”
The stay-young bug is also beginning to bite middle-aged people in China.
Jiang Chunyi, a 42-year-old Shanghai native, just underwent her first anti-aging treatment in Seoul, using high-intensity ultrasound technology. It cost her 30,000 yuan, or the equivalent of six months of salary.
“It’s said that almost all film stars in South Korea have had cosmetic surgery, and they really are good-looking,” says Jiang, who works in marketing for a Shanghai trading company. “That’s why I went there in hopes of getting the best treatment.”
According to the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, approximately 210,000 medical tourists visited the reputed “kingdom of plastic surgery” in 2013. Chinese tourists topped the list at 26.5 percent of the total.
Although Jiang says the procedure was quite painful, the effect on her appearance is so satisfying that she wants to continue going to Seoul for treatment if she can save up enough money.
“Many people are told that the effects of high-intensity ultrasound will last five to eight years,” she says, “but the fact is, the treatment is guaranteed for only about one year. Next time, if I can afford it, I would like to try other procedures, like injections of placenta extracts.”
Clinics doing cosmetic surgery and other treatments are popping up across South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. However, not all patient experiences are positive.
“I have some clients who didn’t go to qualified doctors in South Korea or Japan and came back with faces worse than they were before,” Chen says.
She says people really have to make sure they are in the hands of qualified, certified professionals.
“Don’t believe fairy tales that some particular treatment can keep you young forever,” she advises. “The only thing such treatments can do is slowing the aging process, not reversing it.
“People also need to be aware that all treatments can have side effects,” she adds.
For the young, a healthy lifestyle and diet are the best ways to maintain a natural, pleasing appearance, she says.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
