A September 11th Remembrance Poster - Press Release

NOTED PHOTOGRAPHER CLIFF WASSMANN CAPTURES
OUR ‘HEART’ AT THE TOWER OFLIGHTS
A ‘September 11^th’ Remembrance Poster
www.artseek.com/newsroom

(Dana Point, CA -- October 2002) Southern California Photographer Cliff Wassmann’s stunning photograph of the Tower of Lights, taken on the last day they lit up the sky, is featured in a dramatic “Remembrance” poster honoring the anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center Twin Towers.

A collection of printing companies led by PSG, Printing Services of Greensboro, North Carolina, offers the poster free to the public. Wassmann has graciously donated his photograph.

If a photographer ever put his heart into a work, this photograph reveals the emotional passion experienced as he waited through the dark of night to capture this charismatic last photograph of the tribute lights. Shot in an early morning mist, the Tower of Lights reached toward the sky and somehow magically carved a heart-like figure against the clouds overhead.

When Wassmann traveled back to New York in April to photograph the twin beams of light that had been illuminated for the six month anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, he wasn’t expecting to create an image that was any different than those done by thousands of other photographers who sought to preserve the event. But on the final night the lights were illuminated – and the only night they stayed lit all night – a light rain began falling and by 1:00 a.m. beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, Wassmann found himself alone waiting for the right moment to click his shutter. The clouds and rain helped form the stunning image, with the faint shape of a heart at the apex as the lights gently caressed the clouds. “When I saw the image,” says Wassmann, “I found it deeply poignant. It became a doubly symbolic final tribute, allowing our hearts to reach out and communicate love to all those who suffered in this tragic 9/11 event.”

“The lights made a powerful statement on several levels,” adds Wassmann. “During wartime cities were told to turn down the lights and what does New York do? It sets up the brightest lights in the country, a beacon that could be seen from 20 miles away! It was, at once, a defiant gesture and spiritual recognition of the lives lost. I believe it was the most important piece of public art ever installed.”

Thanks to Wassmann and a group of businesses and printers in the Greensboro area, PSG will print some 80,000 posters. The posters will be offered through September 11or until the limited quantity is depleted.

The “Remembrance” poster will be available at Wassmann Fine Arts, located at 34118 Pacific Coast Hwy. #1, Dana Point, CA. Visitors may pick up a poster beginning Aug. 15 and see Wassmann’s exquisite collection of photographs of the memorial at his studio/gallery.

Wassmann’s photographs and paintings can be seen at www.artseek.com/wfa.

Please contact Cliff Wassmann, Photographer/Artist at 888-278-7335, 949-240-8721. 34118 Pacific Coast Hwy. #1, Dana Point, CA 92629, USA. Digital copies of the image can be down loaded by the press at http://aku-aku.com/download.

PSG’s Web site: www.psg4u.com,

Printing Impressions Magazine’s Article: http://www.piworld.com/doc/275501955826713.bsp

###

Illuminating Life - Article

ILLUMINATING LIFE
By Sara Pentz

Reality prevents man from changing the configuration of a rectangle. It is only at the hand of the artist that the edges of this harsh shape may be made soft, flowing and curvilinear. Architects have grappled with this issue for thousands of years. The best have molded solid materials, structural design and their imagination to fulfill that ‘miracle’. Such is the case with the home of Tom and Joan Riach in Newport Beach.

Faced with the problem of building their home on a confining ‘railroad like’ rectangular piece of property, deep and narrow, potentially dark and gloomy, with a spectacular watery view at one end and the street at the other, they wanted the interior to be all light and airy. They found a man who could magically transform that hard-edged, four-sided figure into a pool of light and considerable space by tricking the eye. Using semi-circled walls, ceilings that climb to the sky, cubicles and a rotunda, his design for the Riach home won him fame and respect.

Built on a solid piece of ground on an Isle in Newport Bay, this house is like the beacon of an oceanic lighthouse. Its stark white facade shimmers in the sun making its exterior configuration appear lightweight in design and surprisingly beckoning. Inside, the imposing three-story rotunda dominates the center of the home, rising in a column to a circular diamond-shaped skylight that invites the outdoor natural light to stream in, and bounce around and over rooms like a beach ball on the sand.

And, in reverse, sunlight travels in unbroken lines downward through the skylight to the basement through the hollow carved in the rotunda by the floating, steel reinforced, spiral staircase. A ‘suspension bridge’ connects the two third floor guest bedrooms on the street side of the house to the master bedroom on the ocean side allowing rooms furthest from the white glare of the Bay to echo in its radiance. Two opera house-like balconies, work areas - an office and an exercise room, - are seemingly poised in space.

Everything about this home is expansive. Nothing, it seems, is physically separated. It is open and unencumbered. It is all encompassing. It is graceful and uplifting. It is all smooth and white and honey colored. With few exceptions this home radiates the outdoor colors of white light, blue sky and maple leaves. While two luxurious and hearty red leather chairs dominate the family room, behind them on a desk stands a glass menagerie of animals as counterpoint. Refracted light is shot like sparklers from the interior hearts of these little souls.

As the outdoor light splashes onto everything in sight, one feels there is spaciousness to this home that, in reality, does not exist. The corners of the box have vanished; replaced by a freedom from confining walls and filled with sovereign arcs of light.

The magnificent view from both the master bedroom and the downstairs living room is inescapably the focus of this house. Like an animated still life watercolor, the scene encompasses the undulating waves of Newport Bay, the daily activities of neighboring Bay, Balboa, Harbor, Linda and Fashion Islands, and a sprinkling of sailboats and yachts cruising in the blue beyond.

Taken as a whole, the place where Joan and Tom Riach live has wrapped itself around them in a comforting and gentle manner. The result is a peaceful calm saturating their haven, away from the oft-disturbing events outside the parameters of this house.

###

The Foundation of Dreams

By Sara Pentz

Walk into the office of Architect Richard Krantz in Newport Beach, and you instantly find yourself in an art gallery of sorts. Everywhere the eye looks you see beautiful renderings of homes in soft shades and hues drawn by the hand of an artist. On the floor, on tables and desks, on top of filing cabinets there are miniature models of homes, looking so real one wants to be invited inside to meet the owner. There are photographs of homes on the walls. There are curled and uncurled architectural drawings and computer screens flickering with engineering diagrams and scaled-to elevations. There are even original sketches drawn from the imagination of the man. It is an open sanctuary to the art of architecture and to his immense talent.

Growing up, Richard Krantz was surrounded by all things beautiful. Both his parents were artists, as were several of his siblings. “In fact, at one point in the late l970’s,” explains Richard, “my mother and father, both sculptors, two of my sisters and myself, were all showing our artwork in the Laguna Beach Festival of the Arts.” With that environment as a launching pad, Richard Krantz has become a creator of real dreams, as he puts it, molding beautiful homes from mere bricks and mortar for the past 19 years.

From the beginning this Newport Beach Architect liked things technical and mechanical, as well as artistic. It wasn’t long before he had decided that architecture would be his planned profession. Richard graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obisbo in architecture. “That is who I am,” he states. “I was looking for a profession that would encompass all of my interests, and serve people and the environment.” As part of that strategy, he has traveled extensively to some 50 countries absorbing cultures, buildings, art, and styles, forever with his camera and sketchbook in hand catching images for his artistic bank.

Richard John Krantz, AIA, Architect, the business, was founded on some very elevated principles: To create a variety of distinctive architecture by using excellent design and business principles which provide beauty, value, purpose and drama to every project.

As a result of his commitment to these high standards, this architect has designed a variety of notable high-end custom homes throughout Southern California as well as in other states. His eclectic styles demonstrate his diversity of design. He has built homes to reflect Italian Mediterranean, French Mediterranean, Italian Villa, English/Traditional, Contemporary, Country French, Spanish/Santa Barbara, and Cape Cod styles; waterfront homes and a particularly charming log home, which achieved national attention for him and his art.

Richard and his wife Lynne, his business manager, strive primarily for excellent client relations throughout the building process. “This is what helps to contribute to a truly enjoyable experience between client and architect,” they agree. Listening to his clients' needs and desires, studying the site and the context, and synthesizing these into a dramatic and interesting design are the goals of each project. Each design follows timeless principles of “...quality of light, appropriate building materials, proportion and progression of spaces, all integrated by the inspiration of the surrounding landscape and buildings.” To achieve these goals and retain personal friendships are mighty testimonials to this architect’s abilities.

As a result of his talent and philosophy, referrals are the mainstay of Richard’s business. “I believe that’s because we care so much about what the client thinks,” he adds. Cultivating these important relationships is a necessary process. “Of course, it takes longer - more time - to create the initial designs. Each of my clients could buy a beautiful existing house, but that’s not the issue. They want to participate in the custom design of their own dream home. They want to have the home become a reflection of themselves. That is what gives them the ultimate joy and satisfaction.”

With his strength as an artist, Richard can sketch drawings for his clients during meetings. He creates quick sketches and then refines them later adding color and the perspective of three-dimensions. “I see the whole house in my mind as a sculpture. But, I have to communicate that image and process to the client, and so the sketches become part of the communication tools.”

“This is the kind of give and take or ‘conversation’,” he says, “that takes place between the artists and the owners. One of the fears people have is that they won’t understand or can’t actually see the home before it is built. By doing these sketches we can continually refine the home before we begin the building process.”

“I have a passion,” he adds. “This is their dream house. I have to listen and interpret their dream. My clients come to me because they believe I can formulate and create their dream. I have very certain goals and principles of design that take a lot of personal care. What we’re creating is more than a building.”

For Richard Krantz the one common thread is the personal care that he and his staff have for their clients and projects. “With all of our clients our relationships don’t end with the completion of the house. We continue to be friends because we have become close to them during this very personal process of building their dream house.”

COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY

What You Don't Know Can Be Detrimental to Your Health

By Sara Pentz

Sitting in front of his TV one day watching Oprah, Phil Voluck saw something so fascinating it immediately lured him out of his comfortable retirement life in Boca Raton. With a successful history as president of such companies as Jenny Craig, NutriSystem and Sylvan Learning Centers, Voluck knew he could become involved in the amazing new medical technology he had just learned about from Oprah. ‘I love startups,” says the now Chief Operating Officer of the company that was only a seed of an idea that day.

The company he helped form is Newport Beach-based CT Screening International (CTSi). It’s in the business of using the latest and most up-to-date 3-D medical technology available to scan the body for diseases. “We looked at the technology and thought it was an excellent tool,” explains Voluck. “Research shows that people want to be involved in their healthcare, so we put together a group of topnotch radiologists in the country and formed the company.”

The technology, computed tomography, takes a fast x-ray of three-dimensional, multi-segmented pictures of the body organs. From the neck down to the pelvis, the scanner x-rays the heart, lungs, and colon. Designed as an early detection system, the scanned information can help prevent, and even reverse, problems by implementing lifestyle changes before a disease becomes critical.

This fancy machine can locate cancer, heart disease, benign tumors, aneurysms, kidney stones and gallstones, and diseases of the lung, prostate, ovaries and back. “CTSi provides valuable information needed to help control the future of your health,” adds Voluck. “Cancer, tumors, bone disease and other abnormalities can be detected in their earliest stages before symptoms appear and before they become inoperable or incurable.”

CTSi uses the most recent state-of-the-art equipment, the LightSpeed Plus scanner from GE Medical Systems. CTSi's LightSpeed Plus offers multi-slice and multi-detector technology, acquiring images at an incredibly fast speed, which produce the clarity and detail not produced by conventional CT or by electron Beam CT. This specific industry started when the electron Beam CT became popular. This was the first time the heart could be almost frozen between beats, allowing an accurate picture. In effect, an electronic beam basically spirals around the body taking pictures with a camera as it spins.

The heart scan is an in-depth, three-dimensional view of the heart and blood vessels to determine coronary heart disease risk. The computer measures the amounts of calcium in the arteries of the heart, then calculates and presents what is called a calcium score. A high score is associated with arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. According to the American Heart Association, Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death and disability in the United States for both men and women. Coronary heart disease is the single leading cause of death in America today.

Currently, lung cancer screening methods do not detect lung cancer in the early stages. Four out of five lung cancers are not curable when found. The new CT

methodology finds cancers much earlier than ever before possible. “The majority of cancers found with CT technology can be cured if diagnosed in the early stages,” explains Voluck. By the time a cancer is discovered in the lung by conventional means, approximately 80% are not curable. CT screening gives the medical profession the opportunity to discover cancer or tumors of the lung and colon at very early stages while they still have a high cure rate.

“This is a new phase of medicine,” adds Voluck. “It is truly a diagnostic phase because the individuals more than ever demand to have knowledge and control of their healthcare. The area of medicine that we’re in is flourishing because of the great advances in technology, and because of the current state of the healthcare system, where third parties seem to be more interested in moving the patients through the system as fast as possible without giving them as much time and care as they should.”

According to Voluck, CT radiologists supplement the primary physicians, giving you test results that you can take to your physician for a follow up. This allows the patient to be part of the treatment. It’s a great wake up call to changing your lifestyle. With a CTSi scan, disease does not progress to a catastrophic level.

If you’re a non-believer, here’s a success story, as Voluck tells it. “A gentleman who had a bulge on his right side was being treated for a hernia. He made an appointment for a CT screening. At the last minute he almost cancelled. Fortunately he did not, because once the screening was completed, we found an abdominal aneurysm which was about to burst, and we got him to the vascular surgeon and saved his life.”

Currently, there are CTSi locations in Newport Beach and Beverly Hills. Encino will be the next center. Then there will be a roll out across the country establishing 15 locations by the end of this year.

CTSi is a privately owned company. But Voluck promised that as soon as this year’s centers are viable, there will be an IPO up on the big screen.

An SOS From Travelers, Expectant Mothers and Cancer Patients

WOODSIDE BIOMEDICAL COMES TO THE RESCUE

By Sara Pentz

Carlsbad-based Woodside Biomedical Inc. has recently found itself in the enviable position of holding a number of patents regarding the treatment of illnesses based on stimulating nerves with electricity. “These patented products can now be applied to a wide variety of illnesses which are currently only treated with drugs,” explains Dave Swenson, Executive Vice President of Marketing for the company.

Probably the most exciting product is the ReliefBand^® technology, the only drug-free remedy to have received FDA clearance for treatment of nausea and vomiting due to pregnancy, chemotherapy, motion sickness, and for post-operative nausea, according to Swenson.

I was introduced to the ReliefBand recently when I boarded the "Sea Ya", owned by Steve Tarantino, Commodore of Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club. He had made his yacht available to the media covering the Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race. I was concerned that I would not be able to complete this small voyage without being overcome by motion sickness. I can report that I suffered no seasickness (much to my relief) after having donned the device. Worn like a sports watch, only on the underside of the wrist, the ReliefBand features five settings to ensure the correct amount of stimulation for the individual.

Technically, the device uses gentle electrical signals to stimulate nerves in the wrist. This wrist stimulation, according to the theory of action proposed by some researchers, causes natural nerve impulses to travel up the arm into the spinal cord and brain. It is believed that these natural nerve impulses interfere with the nausea messages going to the stomach. However it works, it is easy to use, does not cause drowsiness and has no drug-like side effects. The effects last as long as the band is worn.

Woodside Biomedical was founded to develop non-drug, non-invasive medical devices, thanks in part to Stanford-trained physical therapist, Larry Bertolucci, an avid deep-sea fisherman with a serious seasickness problem. In the late 1980’s he was trying to find a better way to treat his own bouts of seasickness. He ‘fiddled’ with electrical current stimulation used in other forms of physical therapy, and Voila! the precursor of the ReliefBand was created.

From that point on, Woodside Biomedical has been gaining patents and investor funding in staggering proportions. Woodside is a privately owned, venture-financed company. To date, Woodside has raised approximately $32 million from investors.

In mid-June 2001, Woodside announced that an additional United States patent has been issued for its ReliefBand device, covering the potential application in the regulation of blood pressure.

The ReliefBand device will be available in approximately 10,000 drug stores by the end of this summer. Many insurers nationwide currently cover it, including Aetna/U.S. Healthcare and Blue Shield of California.

“We are always exploring the possibility of additional applications for our innovative nerve stimulation technology, and we believe that our patent strategy will help us, if appropriate, to be well-positioned to do so,” explains Greg Gruzdowich, Woodside’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

The market potential for the device is considerable, with the U.S. prescription chemotherapy and pregnancy markets alone likely to exceed $400 million. Add to that the consumer marketplace -- estimated to be in excess of more than $1 billion -- and Woodside Biomedical is talking about a significant opportunity.

So what spells ‘relief’ in today’s over the counter market? The answer is on your wrist.

Intuitive Robots - Article

INTUITIVE ROBOTS
Marching into the Operating Room
By Sara Pentz

Just imagine having kidney removal surgery at 9:00 a.m. one morning and eating lunch the next day at home feeling relatively robust, relaxed and pain free. That scenario is the present reality at UCI Medical Center in Orange, California, where the use of the robotic da Vinci^® Surgical System allows surgeons to perform complex operations in less time, with less bleeding, less pain, less hospital stay and much less trauma to the body of the patient.

Actually, the device promises to transcend surgery beyond the limits of the human hand. "Robotic systems are expected to become the surgeon’s most valuable tool," explains Dr. Ralph Clayman, chairman of the UCI Medical Center Department of Urology. “The practice of surgery has changed,” he adds. “It has become less morbid, less dangerous and more patient-friendly with equivalent results.”

The da Vinci robot, created by Intuitive Surgical®, was the first operative surgical robotic system in the world cleared by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Its unique robotics provide the doctor with mechanical hands and unprecedented vision, precision and dexterity during surgery performed through incisions no wider than a fingertip. The da Vinci is the first totally intuitive—meaning instinctive or having a natural tendency—laparoscopic surgical robot in existence. It mimics what one would do naturally in one of the most complex settings of human endeavor. The da Vinci Surgical System provides the surgeon with 3-D imaging of the operating field and intuitive hand movement. Traditional laparoscopic surgery has only 2-D imaging, and the movement of instruments is counter-intuitive—similar to doing surgery while looking into a mirror.

During the surgery the physician sits at an ergonomically-designed consol a few feet from the patient. His head is comfortably supported, as he looks through highly-magnified opticals at the patient’s surgical site in 3-D. He uses hand and foot pedals to maneuver the surgical tools. The robotic device addresses the problem of neck and back pain often suffered by surgeons who spend long hours hunched over an operating table. Even the steadiest hands can’t match those of the surgical robot. The da Vinci system is programmed to compensate for the muscle fatigue and related hand tremors that sometimes develop when surgeons perform long operations.

"Having robotic-assisted surgery, the surgeon positions the robot’s three mechanical arms over the patient. One arm holds a miniature camera, which is inserted through an opening no larger than the diameter of a pencil. The camera transmits highly-magnified 3-D images to the console. The robot’s other two arms hold miniature surgical instruments, which are inserted into another puncture-sized port of entry. Surgeons use their thumbs and index fingers to grasp joystick-like handles on the console that can be rotated, tilted, advanced or retracted.

The da Vinci system gives doctors unprecedented control over the tiny instruments they use during minimally-invasive surgery. The surgeon’s view of the operating field is enhanced by zoom-in/zoom-out capabilities, which, when coupled with the motion-scaling feature of the robotic system, allow the surgeon to perform very fine reconstructive and dissection procedures. The robotic controls enable surgeons to make natural hand movements so that procedures feel more like open surgery. Cables, replicating the manner in which the wrist is maneuvered by tendons, guide the robotic arms. "It’s as instinctive and as comfortable as driving a car," says Clayman.

Right now UCI surgeons are using the da Vinci system for minimally-invasive procedures in urology, gastroenterology, pediatrics, cardiothoracic surgery, vascular surgery and gynecology. The da Vinci robotic technology consequently aids in reducing trauma, postoperative pain and surgical complications for patients—but maintaining the operating flexibility of open surgery. Certain procedures are too difficult to perform with standard minimally-invasive techniques. Robotics changes that.

Unlike conventional surgery, the doctor’s hands never touch the robotic instruments. Large motions made by the surgeons are translated into micro-movements at the surgical site. Now doctors have more depth perception and the ability to use pitch and yaw robotically-driven hand movements. ** STOP **Repetitive or add some of info to second par. above. As well, certain safety features are built into the system. “In every respect this robot makes the surgeon comfortable,” explains Dr. Clayman. “He doesn’t even need a mask, a gown or gloves.

Eventually, the robotic system can be operated from a separate room or a separate country and, in effect, perform surgery via uplink to a satellite that beams down on the other side of the world. The practical import is that surgeons at a base camp during war could operate on a soldier or sailor at sea. That way the patient does not have to be evacuated and the doctor’s time is used more efficiently. “We will save the taxpayer money and it will potentially save lives. It’s a big change in the assault on the body needed to render a surgical cure for disease,” adds Dr. Clayman.

“Having a robotics-assisted surgical system establishes UCI Medical Center as a leader in minimally invasive surgery," says Dr. Clayman. "We already have surgeons at UCI who are internationally renown leaders in developing minimally invasive techniques in their specialties. Now we also have the very latest in technology." In 1990, Dr. Clayman performed the world’s first laparoscopic nephrectomy—the removal of the kidney through an opening the size of a dime. Until then, the procedure involved a large incision and occasionally the removal of a rib to extract the kidney. Since then, Dr. Clayman and others have applied minimally invasive surgical techniques to dozens of other procedures.

Additionally, UCI Medical has a da Vinci teaching robot used to educate surgical residents and medical students in the technology. Today, the physician must first learn how to be a surgeon and then learn how to manipulate the robots. It is not an easy science or technique to learn and requires sensitive coordination.

In line with that philosophy, Dr. Clayman has pulled together with others an astonishing complex of equipment to teach these procedures to physicians throughout the county as well as recertify them for robotic procedures. With an unusual no-strings-attached underwriting from Tokyo-based, Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., UCI Medical is on the leading edge of advanced education for such instruments as Intuitive Surgical’s (NASDAQ ISRG) unique da Vinci robot. “We began the teaching post-graduate program in July 2003,” explains Dr. Clayman. “Because of Yamanouchi’s underwriting, urology doctors come here free of charge to enhance their knowledge. Otherwise it would cost up to $10,000 per doctor. Our educational program is beginning to have an impact. We are booked through October 2004.”

Other medical manufacturing companies have joined the underwriting team to assist the teaching center financially or with donated equipment. ‘This generosity allows us to help doctors cross the educational gully from maximum open surgery to this minimally invasive surgery,” explains Dr. Clayman. Intuitive Surgical® created the da Vinci Surgical System based on foundational robotic surgery technology developed at Stanford Research. In addition to developing its own fundamental technologies, Intuitive later acknowledged key contributions through relationships with IBM, MIT and Johnson & Johnson.

With all that superpower behind it, this marvelously efficient intuitive da Vinci robot, fashioned of metal, glass and mechanical pulleys, has brought to the operating room a peace of mind for both the patient and the surgeon—a never before imagined possibility in our lifetime.

###

Tanner's Remorse? - Press Release

HAVE TANNER’S REMORSE?
Science, Nutrition and Adrienne Brennan’s “Freschezza”
Skin Care Line Provides a Remedy

(Newport Beach, CA -- June 2001) Skin care specialist, TV personality and former LAPD cop, Adrienne Brennan has a love/hate relationship with the Sun. Today, she’s on a rampage to inform sun worshipers about the damage incurred while playing in the Sun.

“Recent scientific evidence has demonstrated that we can literally reverse sun damage,” she points out. “Nevertheless, this is not a license to over expose the skin to the Sun. At the end of the summer when sunbathers are back indoors, some of them will have what I like to call Tanner’s Remorse.”

In order to help these people, Brennan has a simple RX: “Basically, you want to increase the cell turnover deep in your skin, and you want to cause your body to create internal collagen and elastic production.” All that can be accomplished with certain anti-aging and moisturizing skin care products like the ones offered by Adrienne Brennan’s skin care line, Freschezza, which uses exclusive botanical extracts to revitalize and nourish the skin.

It has only been within the last 15 years that we have discovered the damaging effects of UVA, a killer light responsible for about 15-20 percent of sunburn. UVA penetrates deep into the dermis and damages the cellular DNA. Over time UVA will weaken collagen and elastin tissue, crucial to young, firm and wrinkle free skin. UVA is present during summer and winter and is a serious problem when the sun is strongest (between 11am – 2pm). UVA also increases with altitude!

If there are still any sun-worshiping doubters left, they should raise their arms to the Sun for evidence. Says Brennan: “If you look at any part of your body that is not exposed to the sun, for example your underarm, you’ll see this skin, obviously the same age as the skin on your nose, is for the most part plump, supple and unwrinkled. That is how the face would look, science tells us, if we avoided direct Sun exposure.”

There is no better skin comparison test used to underscore the point that the Sun is the number one cause of skin damage and aging. Actually, there is one more chilling comparison. People in Ireland do not have the same incidence of skin cancer as they do in the United States. That fact is the difference between a sunny and an overcast climate.

While Brennan ranks the Sun as the major villain, she lists other culprits. 1) Environmental toxins because these critters carry free radicals. 2) Vitamin deficiencies in A, C and E, because so many of us eat processed foods. 3) Smoking and even second-hand smoke, which some say is more damaging than first-hand smoke. 4) Stress. 5) Excessive alcohol consumption because it is dehydrating. 6) Sleep deprivation.

Add to the list the physiological reasons that create unhealthy skin. In our 30s, the glands that produce the critical skin oils begin to go on strike. By age 40 or 50 the skin thins and loses the critical fat layer which keeps it so plump. Furthermore, fibroblasts, which constantly replenish the elastin and collagen in our skin, lose their ability to function.

“Basically, your body loses it’s ability to repair free radical damage and automatic cell repair,” adds Brennan. “Under the age of 30, skin cell turnover occurs every 28 days. A little more than a decade later skin cell turnover is between 45-50 days.

The use of topical creams with antioxidants (included in the Freschezza line) can stop or reverse the free radicals by actually rendering them harmless. Cells use oxygen to produce energy in our body. In the process, they produce free radicals which are unstable oxygen molecules. Free radicals are also produced by excessive sunlight, environmental toxins, and smoke pollution. In fact, today many scientists believe that free radicals are the cause of aging internally as well as externally.

The good news! Acting on scientific information, we can correct the damage.

Brennan: “We can modify what we eat by increasing the intake of vitamins A, C and E; or by supplementing our diets with those vitamins. Eat foods that are rich in those vitamins, by selecting fruits and vegetables with a high color intensity. Foods like broccoli or cantaloupe possess high amounts of antioxidants.”

What Brennan advocates is not difficult to ingest: avocados, berries, cantaloupe, pineapple, tomatoes and green vegetables. “The very best food you can put in your mouth is salmon because of the omega 3 fatty acids and high protein,” she says. “Switch from chicken to salmon Caesar salad when you lunch with the ladies.”

According to Brennan, sugar is absolutely lethal to the aging process of the skin. Today, many agree with her. According to Nicholas Piricone, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine, the glucose acts like a toxin directly attacking the collagen. When the glucose attaches to the protein area of the collagen, it causes the collagen to cross-link, becoming stiff and inflexible. That’s what leads to wrinkling.

Brennan offers a simple RX for Tanner’s Remorse:

Use a topical exfoliate. You must exfoliate the old dead skin from your body by using a loofa or exfoliating scrub. Combine this process with a chemical exfoliate such as Retinal, the purest form of Vitamin A. This will reduce the visible signs of aging by stimulating collagen and elastin production and acceleration of cell turnover. You can actually return your skin cells to the youthful activity replicating the 28-day turnover if you follow this routine.

Use topical antioxidants. By reversing the free radicals damage with the most effective Vitamin C Ester, ascolbyl palmitate, the skin is protected by the inherent liposomes. Vitamin C is essential for production of collagen, and can absorb past the outer skin layers, penetrating and nourishing the new cells.

According Olga Marko, Ph.D., a cellular biologist, Vitamin C stimulates the growth of fibroblasts, those essentials which constantly replenish the elastin and collagen in our skin.

With the combination A and C used in Brennan’s skin care product line, Freschezza, the collagen and elastin in the skin are routinely stimulated. In addition, Freschezza products provide soothing anti-inflammatory ingredients, including green tea extract, the natural anti-inflammatory Aloe Vera plant and chamomile, all of which help calm any irritations from the Retinal. Freschezza products include olive oil, a natural emollient and a wonderful source of fatty acids.

Skin damage is most easily seen in the brown spots on the back of hands or on the shins. In order to reverse these, Freschezza has a fade-away cream which includes all those ‘age reversing’ ingredients, with the addition of hydroquinone. The natural bearberry acids yield the prerequisite amounts of hydroquinone.

Finally, Adrienne Brennan is a fanatic about exercise. “You can actually live to be more than 100 years if you keep your body running like the machine it was meant to be.”

Protection

1) Wear a broad spectrum (UVA and UVB) sunscreen.

2) Wear protective clothes (hats, long sleeves, and umbrellas).

3) Seek shade especially between the hours of 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.; or if the skin is very fair, remain out of the sun between the hours of 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Sunburn Facts

1) Sunburn peaks in 20 hours

2) It become visible 8 hours

3) It begins healing in 48 hours

About the Freschezza Skin Care Product Line

Freschezza, www.freschezza.com, is a skin care beauty line that is simple and efficient as well as pure. Its development is the result of intense market research, which combines proprietary scientific technology with pure nature to help achieve perfectly balanced skin protection from further environmental damage. Each Freschezza product contains a unique blend of active ingredients designed to reverse the signs of aging, prevent future signs of aging, and create perfect skin health. Freschezza fights free radicals (as an antioxidant) and helps to boost collagen formation. While minimizing fine lines and wrinkles, the Freschezza products stimulate the growth of healthy new cells.

Freschezza uses exclusive Botanical Extracts to revitalize and nourish the skin. For example, Panthenol is an intense moisturizing and balancing agent. Other major ingredients such as olive oil and Vitamin E also help to moisturize and nourish the skin. Freschezza’s antioxidant products protect the skin, requiring the use of sunscreen on a daily basis.

Adrienne Brennan and Salon & Spa owner Scott Fontana teamed to create the skin care line known as Freschezza (Fresh-ay-za), an anti-aging skin care line targeted for women over 40 years.

###