Acne Eczema, skin repair and Shortening Telomeres Question
 

I have recently read about telomeres and how they shorten each time a cell repairs.

I have had bad acne for about ten years. It is finally calming down now I am in my early twenties, but it led me to worry that due to the extensive cell repair needed to heal the acne over and over, my telomeres have shortened way before their time. Is this true? What does this mean for me, that i may age far earlier or be more likely to get skin cancer? Or perhaps I have just misunderstood?

I do not suffer from eczema but I also wondered whether the repair due to eczema or related skin problems may also link to this. So would having a rash or allergy for a length of time or all your life will shorten the telomeres of the skin cells and make you in danger?

I have read that excessively hot drinks that damage the throat lead to throat cancer, and that cigarette smoke which damages the lungs leads to lung cancer so surely a skin issue that requires frequent and fairly long-term repair of the skin (such as my acne) would irreversibly cause problems due to the shortening of the telomeres and 'use up' the amount of cell replication possible.

I feel like this is a silly question but it makes sense to me and i cannot find an answer anywhere so hopefully you can ease my concerns... or not! Many thanks.

Re: Acne Eczema, skin repair and Shortening Telomeres Question
 

fight eczema

Re: Acne Eczema, skin repair and Shortening Telomeres Question
 

Gerty,

Re: Acne Eczema, skin repair and Shortening Telomeres Question
 

Telomeres get shorter because DNA polymerase can't fill the nucleotides bound to the RNA primers at 5' ends, so each time the cell replicates, regardless repairing, the chromosomes get shortened by the primers lenght at the telomeres.

Telomere shortening means the cells have a limited number of divisions (replications) before they die. This doesn't apply to tissues however, because tissues have stem cells that keep the cell numbers constant. Besides, I doubt there is extensive cell repair in acne, it's rather an extensive tissue repair.

The mechanism that lead to cancer are due to the nature of the sustance or the response of the body to it, rather than telomere shortening. As I stated above, telomere shortening cause cell death, cancer cells are characterized for not dying, and some of them have the enzyme telomerase which make the cell keeps its telomeres intact, making the cell virtually inmortal. There are also cancer stem cells, which regenerate telomerase-lacking (mortal) cancer cells in tumour masses.

Another thing I must add is that most of our cells can be replenished over and over, thanks to the stem cells. Only a few cell lineages are limited and can't be replenished, like oocytes and neurons.

I don't know if I solved your doubts. If not, feel confortable to ask.