Zits in high school may mean youthful looking skin in adulthood

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For teens, a face full of oozing, bulging, and bursting zits is sure to mortify. But the puss-spewing horror may be a sign of a glowing godsend to come.

Those who suffer through acne early in life are likely to have longer telomeres (protective DNA caps on the ends of chromosomes) in their white blood cells—a feature that suggests their cells may age more slowly. The finding, published Wednesday in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, may finally explain a phenomenon dermatologists have long noted: that past acne sufferers tend to have more youthful looking skin, with less wrinkling and thinning, compared to peers who never battled blemishes.

“Our findings suggest that the cause could be linked to the length of telomeres, which appears to be different in acne sufferers and means their cells may be protected against ageing,” lead author of the study, Simone Ribero, a dermatologist at King’s College London, said in a statement.