14 DAY TRIAL // Gold (Au) is probably the most famous chemical element around the world. If you ask around, not many people will tell you they never heard of it.
For many centuries, it's been used as currency, before the invention of paper money (which was made because of the lack of gold), in jewelry, and in many industry areas. It's still considered the basis for the monetary standard and it's universally traded around the world.
Besides its use in jewelry, it's also widespread in dentistry, in photography, and its high conductivity in electricity has made it even more precious in electronic components, like the connectors of the more expensive electronics cables, such as audio, video and USB cables.
The latest use of this extremely multivalent metal is in the health sector. The Chinese beauty treatment company Umosen has development a facial treatment which basically applies 24 karat gold onto the patient's face.
This special treatment is only available at selected spas and it comes with a hefty price tag: 30,000 yen (close to $300).
"A few years ago, there was caviar in everything. Next year, it'll probably be champagne," said Dr. Michele S. Green, a dermatologist with a practice on the Upper East Side who has been paid as a consultant to develop and test products for numerous cosmetics companies.
This is not the first attempt to use gold for medicinal purposes, as gold was once commonly used to heal leg ulcers. Research published last year by the American Chemical Society also suggested that nanoparticles of it (combined with radiation, among other things) could possibly help treat neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.
This may or may not become the trendy new style, Dr. Green said. "But it doesn't sound sexy to say you're rubbing marine algae on your face."
On the other hand, the ultimate "therapeutic" use for gold was discovered thousands of years ago, when Mandarin nobility committed suicide by breathing gold powder that blocked their respiratory pathways.