Alexander Turkevich: There are only a few effective complex drugs

Aesthetic medicine – This is daily work and constant work on yourself. Only the best of the best in this industry, both doctors and products, reach the top and delight patients. The secret of the doctor's success – It is continuous learning and professional growth. And for a drug to become popular, it must be reliable, safe, effective, and have a strong evidence base.

Dermatovenereologist, oncologist, PhD, Associate Professor of the Department of Family Medicine, Polyclinic Affairs and Dermatovenereology of the Lviv National Medical University. Danila Galitsky, Professor of Dermatovenereology at the University of Rome «J. Marconi» Alexander Turkevich.

What complex preparations would you call effective

А.Т.: There are a lot of multicomponent preparations on the modern market of aesthetic medicine, ranging from those that I don’t fundamentally understand, for example, combinations of hyaluronic acid with amino acids or vitamins, and ending with peptide preparations. And they are also very controversial from the point of view of evidence-based medicine. If some of these products have a certain level of evidence and they work, then for others it's all just words.

Regarding dermal fillers, I don’t understand at all how it is possible to add any other substances to fillers, with their molecular structure, since this makes no sense.

If we talk about hyaluronic acid biorevitalizants without or with the addition of vitamins, then initially I was skeptical about them and thought that they did not work. But from the moment when polynucleotide preparations appeared, I changed my mind. I have been actively involved in them for 4 years already, both as a doctor and as a researcher (I use them in patients and study them), and my choice – These are drugs from the TwAc line manufactured by Yuma Medical, UK.

If we are talking about polynucleotide composite products, then these are TwAc 2.0 and TwAc 3.0 (ed. - from the company

Medhome),  because TwAc eyes –  it is a monocomponent preparation containing only polynucleotides.

Why do I choose these drugs? I will answer simply and briefly – because they work, and I've seen this in research and in the faces and eyes of my patients.

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What is more important for a doctor of aesthetic medicine: theory or practice

А.Т.: For a doctor of aesthetic medicine, practice is very important, but at the same time, he must base his practice on theoretically and logically proven postulates and facts.

An ordinary doctor has neither the time nor the opportunity nor the desire to experiment – he must receive from the company a product that is tested, effective, reliable, safe, and evidence-based.

You don't need to invent anything new for this, everyone knows what needs to be done. In addition, I am very glad that since 2020 the rules for registration and evidence of medical products are completely changing. They are becoming much closer to those currently available in pharmacy. This means that the official market will be cleared of ineffective, unproven, inactive products. And the black market will always exist, it's inevitable, but that's a completely different story.

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What advice would you give to young professionals

А.Т.: A novice aesthetic medicine specialist definitely needs cadaver courses, because knowledge of anatomy after a medical university, no matter how excellent they are — this is not what an esthetician needs. He needs completely different, deeper knowledge.

Practical training is very important for a specialist in the beauty industry, since it is precisely this that allows a young doctor to "put his hand."

Congresses, on the other hand, give the specialist an understanding of where the aesthetic medicine industry is going, what are the industry chips and new trends. And it cannot be said that something is more or less important — because they are all components of one process.

Recall that the polynucleotide-based preparations that Dr. Alexander Turkevich uses in his work are TwAc preparations (ed. - from the company

Medhome), manufactured by Yuma Medical, UK.

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