Related articles: Freckles
Definition
Freckles are undetected skin spots, roundish in shape and vary in color from light brown to dark brown. Their dimensions are irregular and generally measure a few millimeters in diameter.
Freckles can occur in different parts of the body (they are more common on the face and the back of the hands).
Unlike freckles, the appearance of lentigines does not necessarily depend on sun exposure. In fact, their onset constitutes a case of cutaneous hyperpigmentation linked to an excessive production of melanin due to a local surplus of melanocytes.
The predisposition to the appearance of freckles is genetic in nature and depends, in particular, on the presence of a genetic variant of the melanocortin-1 MC1R receptor.
Chronic sun exposure can stimulate freckles to darken and become more numerous. Sometimes, freckles are accompanied by systemic diseases such as Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, multiple freckles syndrome (LEOPARD syndrome) and xeroderma pigmentosum.
People with fair skin, blond or red hair, light eyes and freckles (skin type 1-2) are particularly prone to sunburn and have a greater risk of developing skin tumors than those with dark-olive skin; therefore, they must pay particular attention to protecting themselves from the sun's rays, avoiding intense and intermittent exposures.
Possible Causes * of Freckles
- Albinism
- Food Allergy
- Anxiety
- Inguinal hernia
- Adrenal insufficiency
- Hand-foot-and-mouth disease
- Neurofibromatosis
- Pancreatitis
- Rheumatic polymyalgia
- tenosynovitis
- Esophagus tumor
- Smallpox
