Here’s some good news for acne sufferers. No, I’m afraid it’s not some magic cure, but the news is nearly as good. A study by London’s King’s College finds that those who have acne may live longer. Seriously. This is because of something they have at the cellular level in their white blood cells. Earlier studies have shown that when white blood cells have this characteristic, people with this particular type of white cells live longer. So what characteristic are we talking about? It’s a longer telomere. Telomeres are repeated nucleotide sequences that appear at the end of chromosomes. These protect the chromosomes from deteriorating during replication. Normally, telomeres break down and shrink as the cell ages. This leads to cellular death, and broadly to aging. A longer telomere works against that. Sounds all Greek? Not to worry. The bottom line is: If you got acne, you will probably live longer. Now if we could find a permanent cure to those pesky acne!
Key Points:
- 1Scientists 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.
- 2Previous studies have shown that white blood cell telomere length can be predictive of biological ageing and is linked with telomere length in other cells in the body.
- 3Signs of ageing such as wrinkles and skin thinning often appear much later in people who have experienced acne in their lifetime. It has been suggested that this is due to increased oil production but there are likely to be other factors involved.
Signs of ageing such as wrinkles and skin thinning often appear much later in people who have experienced acne in their lifetime
Read the full article at: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/newsevents/news/newsrecords/2016/09%20September/Acne-sufferers-cells-may-be-protected-against-ageing.aspx
Reply