The question: Do moles mean you will live longer?

It is, on the face of it, a frankly random connection, as random as the distribution of those highly pigmented blotches - yes, often on faces (see Scarlett Johansson) - tends to be. But the answer, according to researchers at King's College, London, is yes. The effect is even quantifiable: if you have always resented your 100-plus moles, you can now take comfort from the fact that you will probably live six or seven years longer than someone with only 25 or so of the pesky things. That is, if a malignant melanoma doesn't get you first.For that was where the connection was first observed - among clinical dermatologists looking after what lead researcher Dr Veronique Bataille calls "moley people", moles being an important risk factor for melanoma. The dermatologists noticed that "if you had a lot of moles, you were less likely to get age spots and wrinkles and all the signs associated with chronic sun-damage and ageing. There was already a clinical suspicion that something was different."Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Ageing Genetics Science Health & wellbeing Life and style UK news Society King's College London Education Higher education Research Source Type: news