Acne sufferers can look young for long
People who suffer from acne may be better protected against the signs of ageing such as wrinkles and skin thinning, a new study has claimed.
Study finds that people with acne prone skin age slowly
People who suffer from acne may be better protected against the signs of ageing such as wrinkles and skin thinning, a new study has claimed. Scientists at King's College London have found that people who have previously suffered from acne are likely to have longer telomeres in their white blood cells, meaning their cells could be better protected against ageing.
Telomeres are repetitive nucleotide sequences found at the end of chromosomes which protect them from deteriorating during the process of replication. Telomeres gradually break down and shrink as cells age, eventually leading to cell death which is a normal part of human growth and ageing.
The study measured the length of white blood cell telomeres in 1,205 twins from the TwinsUK cohort. A quarter of the twins reported having experienced acne in their lifetime. Statistical analyses which adjusted for age, relatedness, weight and height showed that telomere length in acne sufferers was significantly longer, meaning that white blood cells were more protected from the usual deterioration with age.
One of the genes involved in telomere length was also associated with acne in a replication sample from the UK Acne Genetic study. Dermatologists have long noted that the skin of acne sufferers appears to age more slowly than the skin of those with no history of acne. It has been suggested that this is due to increased oil production but there are likely to be other factors involved.
