Washington D.C. [USA]: Have you ever looked at your body and wondered why you have moles or why they are placed on a particular part of the body? If yes, then a study has found answers to settle your questioning mind!
The study published in the journal ‘Pigment Cell and Melanoma Research’ states that your genes along with exposure to sun has a great influence on the number and location of the moles on your body.
In this study, researchers analysed a large group of 3,200 healthy twins, predominately female, and counted moles on their head and neck, back, abdomen and chest, upper limbs and lower limbs.
The findings from the study indicated that in women, the lowest genetic effect on mole count was on the back and abdomen (26 per cent), and the highest on the lower limbs (69 per cent).
The reason behind a larger number of moles on women’s lower limbs is unlikely to be due to sun exposure alone but down to a sex-specific genetic makeup.
“We’ve known for some time that moles are a major risk factor for melanoma skin cancer. With this research we now know that not only the number but also the location of moles on the body is in large part due to genetics,” said lead researcher Dr Alessia Visconti, from the Department of Twin Research at King’s College London.
“Our results add to previous evidence that indicates greater sun exposure alone is unlikely to be the reason why women have more moles on their legs,” Alessia added.