The underlying freckles cause is a cluster of concentrated melanin.
Melanin is the pigment responsible for the skin's complexion.
Let's learn more about the cause of freckles and especially how to reduce skin freckles.
People with fair complexions are more likely to have freckling, although it can be present in any complexion type.
The tendency to have freckles is genetic.
**Freckles - Face and Shoulders They most commonly appear on the face and shoulders, but they can be present on any part of the skin that is exposed to sunlight.
While the tendency to develop them is genetic, the formation of melanin clumps is triggered by exposure to sunlight.
UVB rays activate the melanin-producing cells, which are referred to as melanocytes.
As melanin production increases, the freckled spots become darker.
**Genetic Tendency The genetic tendency has to do with a variant in a gene called the melano-cortin 1 receptor gene or MC1R for simplicity's sake.
A study conducted in 1995 showed that over 80% of humans with red hair and fair skin have a dysfunctional variant of the MC1R gene.
There are several different theories about why this would be true.
One of the most logical has to do with early migration of humans from Africa, where UV radiation is strong and melanin served to protect against burning, to Europe and Asia, where UV radiation is less strong and darker skin caused by melanin would inhibit the body's ability to make vitamin D.
**Sun Cause of Freckles The sun is our friend in many ways, but it is also the most common freckles cause.
With adequate sunlight, the body can produce its own vitamin D.
Without adequate sunlight, vitamin D must be present in the diet.
It is theorized that populations living in far northern latitudes would have gotten most of their vitamin D from fish.
The genetic freckles cause, variance in the MC1R gene, is a dominant trait.
That means that it need only be present in one parent for a child to have freckled skin.
This explains why darker skinned individual can have a tendency to freckle.
This may all be some hereditary defense mechanism.
The most serious form of skin cancer, melanoma, occurs in the melanocytes.
Melanin helps to protect against damage caused by overexposure to the sun.
It acts to turn the UV rays into non-damaging heat.
You might think of it as a natural sunscreen.
When UV rays are not converted to heat by melanin, they stimulate increased production and activity of free radical molecules.
Free radicals play a role in skin cancer and in cellular aging.
They are one among the causes of wrinkles and other visible signs of age.
**Real Cause of Freckles? So, the real freckles cause could be the body's desire to protect the melanocytes from damaging UV and to help protect fair-skinned individuals from free radical damage.
That doesn't mean that you have to like them.
Some of the spots fade with time and reduced exposure to sunlight.
They often become lighter in the wintertime.
Others are referred to as senile freckles, age spots, liver spots, sun spots or lentigines.
They do not fade in the winter.
But, the underlying freckles cause is still the production of melanin clumps.
The treatment is also the same.
You'll learn about that in my next article on How to Reduce Skin Freckles.
See the author/resource box for the article on how to reduce skin freckles.
Melanin is the pigment responsible for the skin's complexion.
Let's learn more about the cause of freckles and especially how to reduce skin freckles.
People with fair complexions are more likely to have freckling, although it can be present in any complexion type.
The tendency to have freckles is genetic.
**Freckles - Face and Shoulders They most commonly appear on the face and shoulders, but they can be present on any part of the skin that is exposed to sunlight.
While the tendency to develop them is genetic, the formation of melanin clumps is triggered by exposure to sunlight.
UVB rays activate the melanin-producing cells, which are referred to as melanocytes.
As melanin production increases, the freckled spots become darker.
**Genetic Tendency The genetic tendency has to do with a variant in a gene called the melano-cortin 1 receptor gene or MC1R for simplicity's sake.
A study conducted in 1995 showed that over 80% of humans with red hair and fair skin have a dysfunctional variant of the MC1R gene.
There are several different theories about why this would be true.
One of the most logical has to do with early migration of humans from Africa, where UV radiation is strong and melanin served to protect against burning, to Europe and Asia, where UV radiation is less strong and darker skin caused by melanin would inhibit the body's ability to make vitamin D.
**Sun Cause of Freckles The sun is our friend in many ways, but it is also the most common freckles cause.
With adequate sunlight, the body can produce its own vitamin D.
Without adequate sunlight, vitamin D must be present in the diet.
It is theorized that populations living in far northern latitudes would have gotten most of their vitamin D from fish.
The genetic freckles cause, variance in the MC1R gene, is a dominant trait.
That means that it need only be present in one parent for a child to have freckled skin.
This explains why darker skinned individual can have a tendency to freckle.
This may all be some hereditary defense mechanism.
The most serious form of skin cancer, melanoma, occurs in the melanocytes.
Melanin helps to protect against damage caused by overexposure to the sun.
It acts to turn the UV rays into non-damaging heat.
You might think of it as a natural sunscreen.
When UV rays are not converted to heat by melanin, they stimulate increased production and activity of free radical molecules.
Free radicals play a role in skin cancer and in cellular aging.
They are one among the causes of wrinkles and other visible signs of age.
**Real Cause of Freckles? So, the real freckles cause could be the body's desire to protect the melanocytes from damaging UV and to help protect fair-skinned individuals from free radical damage.
That doesn't mean that you have to like them.
Some of the spots fade with time and reduced exposure to sunlight.
They often become lighter in the wintertime.
Others are referred to as senile freckles, age spots, liver spots, sun spots or lentigines.
They do not fade in the winter.
But, the underlying freckles cause is still the production of melanin clumps.
The treatment is also the same.
You'll learn about that in my next article on How to Reduce Skin Freckles.
See the author/resource box for the article on how to reduce skin freckles.
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