If your teenage son or daughter is blighted¹ by acne, they can take heart.

如果你那处在青春期的儿子女儿正饱受粉刺痤疮的摧残，那么是时候振作起来了。

For while they may feel greasy² and unattractive at the moment, by middle age they will be the envy of their peers.

因为尽管这一阵子他们可能会觉得皮肤油油的毫无魅力，但步入中年后同龄人就该羡慕他们了。

British research shows that acne sufferers' cells have built-in protection against ageing that is likely to keep them looking younger than their years.

英国研究发现，长痘痘的人细胞中有天然的抗衰老屏障，可能使他们看起来比实际年龄小。

So while their former classmates bemoan³ the appearance of crow's feet and other wrinkles and crinkles, their skin is more likely to maintain a youthful lustre⁴.

所以，当他们的老同学为出现鱼尾纹哀叹不已、脸上涌现层层皱纹时，这些长痘痘的人更有可能还保留着年轻时的光泽。

The suggestion comes from King's College London researchers who studied tiny structures called telomeres.

这一结论来自伦敦大学国王学院的研究员，他们研究了一种叫做端粒的微小构造。

These are caps on the ends of chromosomes⁵ that protect the DNA⁶ in them from damage, much like caps on shoelaces prevent fraying⁷. Thought of as tiny biological clocks, telomeres get shorter as we age and eventually become so short that cells die.

这是染色体末端的帽子，保护内部的DNA不受破坏，就像鞋带头上的绳花让鞋带不散毛。端粒被认为是微小的生物钟，它会随着人变老而越来越短，达到最短之时细胞也就死亡了。

Previous studies have found men and women with long telomeres tend to be biologically younger than those of the same age but with shorter ones. All in all, telomeres are considered so important that the scientists who discovered them seven years ago were awarded a Nobel Prize for medicine.

之前已研究发现，端粒长的男人和女人一般比端粒短的同龄人生理上更为年轻。一言以蔽之，端粒十分重要，七年前发现端粒的科学家还因此获得了诺贝尔医学奖。

The King's College study measured the telomeres in the white blood cells of more than 1,200 twins, a quarter of whom had suffered from acne.

国王学院的研究测量了1200多对双胞胎白血球内的端粒长度，其中受粉刺困扰的人占四分之一。

Telomeres were significantly longer in those who had a spotty adolescence⁸, even when factors such as age were taken into account.

即便考虑了年龄等因素的影响，这些青春期长过痘的人端粒明显更长。

A second experiment looking at skin samples showed that a cluster of genes⁹ involved in cell death was less active in acne sufferers.

第二个实验观察了一些皮肤样本，发现长痘者体内的一组造成细胞死亡的基因活跃度较低。

Dermatologists¹⁰ have long noted¹¹ that the skin of acne patients seems to age more slowly, with wrinkles and thinning appearing much later.

皮肤病学家早就指出粉刺患者的皮肤看起来老得慢，皮肤变薄、长皱纹来得更晚些。

It was thought excessive oil production contributed to their Peter Pan looks, but the rest of the biology was unknown.

据认为是过多的油脂分泌造就了这些人彼得·潘式的不老容颜，但其他生物学原因还不得而知。

Previous research from the same university has suggested adults with lots of moles¹² may also look younger for longer. The latest study is reported in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

这所大学早前的研究显示，长有很多痣的成年人可能也会青春常驻。上文提到的最新研究发表在了《皮肤病学杂志》上。

Longer telomeres also tend to signal stronger bones and a less frail¹³ old age, meaning dealing¹⁴ with spots may have more than one silver lining¹⁵.

端粒长通常也意味着骨头更强壮，这样的人到了老年体质也不会太弱。这样看来长痘长痣的人还真有可能是福气多多。

All of the study participants were women but the finding is also likely to apply to men who suffered from acne as teenagers.

参与研究的对象均为女性，但研究结果可能对青春期长痘的男性也同样适用。