The secret of a long life? It's the moles on your skin

The secret of a long life? It's the moles on your skin
By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
Published: 11 July 2007
Independent UK

People with a lot of moles on their skin are used to being told that they are at greater risk of cancer. But now they have reason to celebrate; research suggests they can look forward to a longer life.

"Moley" people have a slightly higher risk of developing melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, but a study comparing more than 1,800 twins found that those with more moles have longer telomeres - a marker of biological ageing found in all cells.

The findings suggest that the risk of cancer is counteracted by the effects of the telomeres, which protect the chromosomes.

Scientists from the Twin Research Unit at King's College London say that people with a lot of moles, more than 100, have a biological age that is six to seven years younger than those with fewer than 25, because of the difference in the length of their telomeres.

Veronique Bataille, who led the study published in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, said: "The results... show for the first time that moley people who have a slightly increased risk of melanoma, on the other hand have the benefit of a reduced rate of ageing.

"This could imply susceptibility to fewer age-related diseases such as heart disease or osteoporosis. Further studies are need to confirm this."

Professor Tim Spector, the head of the Twin Research Unit and a co-author of the study, said: "We now plan to look in more detail at the genes which influence the numbers of moles and to see whether they also slow down the ageing process in general."

Moles are growths on the skin, usually dark, that develop from melanocytes, pigment-producing cells, and may be considered blemishes or beauty marks, depending on their size and location.They vary in size and may be flat or raised, smooth or rough.

Almost everyone has at least 10 moles, which commonly develop in childhood or adolescence and tend to disappear from middle age. The average number in people with white skin is 30 but some people can have as many as 400. Doctors have suspected that they may confer some advantage because they are common in the population. Moles can occasionally turn cancerous. Nearly half of all malignant melanomas begin in moles so one that looks suspicious should be removed.

As moles tend to disappear with age, scientists at the Twin Research Unit examined the relationship between the number of moles and telomere length, which is an indicator of the rate of ageing. Telomeres are bundles of DNA at the end of chromosomes which, like the plastic tips on shoelaces, protect them from disintegrating. Long telomeres in the white blood cells correlate with slowed ageing of several organs and tissues, such as the heart and bone.

The results showed that twins with longer telomeres seemed to keep their moles for longer and to have delayed ageing.