Featured Image Credit: Darrick E. Antell, M.D
Topics: Health
Callum Jones
A study on identical twins has revealed the astonishing differences after one had plenty more sun exposure over their lifetime than the other.
You'd expect identical twins to look, well, identical wouldn't you? But a study done by Dr. Darrick Antell has found that different lifestyles can impact the ageing process in significant ways.
Gwen Sirota and Gay Block were the twins involved with the study, and they believed they looked alike as they approached the age of 60.
It was a plastic surgeon that provided the siblings with side-by-side photographs of the pair, and they were left shocked over the visible differences.
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The pair quickly realized that Block looked like an older version of her twin.
She said: "At first I thought he'd touched up the photos. I went, 'Oh my gosh, I really do look older'.''
There was a simple explanation to the noticeable differences, with Block explaining how she would bake on Californian beaches and smoke marijuana amid stressful times during the 1970s.
Moving to the West Coast after leaving her native Baltimore provided the sun, but was evidentially detrimental to her health.
Sirota did none of that back in her youth, and this has become evident with the side-by-side comparison photos.
Block's wrinkles were more obvious and significantly deeper than her twin as the sun had damaged her skin.
It was Darrick Antell who took the photos back in 1997 at the annual Twins Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio, with Sirota and Block's results sparking his interest.
"I was really taken aback by some of the differences in aging," he said. "It became pretty clear that sun was the main villain in this case."
The plastic surgeon argued the photographic evidence may mean more people may take into account their current lifestyle and how it may impact them in later life.
"You can talk until you're blue in the face about all the health hazards," Antell added. "But tell them they'll age quicker and not look as attractive, and people will probably listen."
Block's 'rougher skin damage and reduced elasticity due to collagen breakdown' could not be repaired by plastic surgery, Antell explained.
Sirota, who must have felt pretty smug being the younger looking twin, said: "Gay's skin definitely has a different tone to it. There's no two ways about it—the sunning was definitely bad on her. Every year we get older, it's more and more obvious."