kebaldwin
Wed, Jul-11-07, 10:39
Secret of Youth May Lie in a Moley Skin
The Scotsman
07-11-07
PEOPLE with large numbers of moles on their body may age more slowly than expected, researchers said yesterday.
A study of more than 1,800 twins found that very moley skin was linked to an indicator of slower biological ageing.
The findings could mean that people with a lot of moles have a lower risk of age-related diseases such as heart disease and osteoporosis.
The study by King's College London studied the twins' skin and compared it with telomere length.
Telomeres are bundles of DNA found at the end of chromosomes in all cells in the body.
They get shorter as we get older, making them a good indicator of the ageing process.
Moles disappear from the body as we get older, leading scientists to suspect that the two factors may be linked.
The team found that people with more than 100 moles had longer telomeres compared to those with very few moles - less than 25.
The difference between the two groups was the equivalent to six to seven years of normal ageing. The scientists, writing in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, have yet to find out why having many moles is associated with slower ageing.
Dr Veronique Bataille, the lead researcher, said: "The results of this study are very exciting as they show, for the first time, that moley people who have a slightly increased risk of melanoma [skin cancer] may, on the other hand, have the benefit of a reduced rate of ageing. This could imply susceptibility to fewer age-related disease, such as heart disease or osteoporosis for example."
The team plans to look in more detail at the genes that influence the number of moles.
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=5587&Section=AGING
The Scotsman
07-11-07
PEOPLE with large numbers of moles on their body may age more slowly than expected, researchers said yesterday.
A study of more than 1,800 twins found that very moley skin was linked to an indicator of slower biological ageing.
The findings could mean that people with a lot of moles have a lower risk of age-related diseases such as heart disease and osteoporosis.
The study by King's College London studied the twins' skin and compared it with telomere length.
Telomeres are bundles of DNA found at the end of chromosomes in all cells in the body.
They get shorter as we get older, making them a good indicator of the ageing process.
Moles disappear from the body as we get older, leading scientists to suspect that the two factors may be linked.
The team found that people with more than 100 moles had longer telomeres compared to those with very few moles - less than 25.
The difference between the two groups was the equivalent to six to seven years of normal ageing. The scientists, writing in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, have yet to find out why having many moles is associated with slower ageing.
Dr Veronique Bataille, the lead researcher, said: "The results of this study are very exciting as they show, for the first time, that moley people who have a slightly increased risk of melanoma [skin cancer] may, on the other hand, have the benefit of a reduced rate of ageing. This could imply susceptibility to fewer age-related disease, such as heart disease or osteoporosis for example."
The team plans to look in more detail at the genes that influence the number of moles.
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=5587&Section=AGING