When Martha Dodd first noticed the rash on her chest, she dismissed it. She was 57, after all, and her body seemed to be growing less refined year by year. Her periods had stopped six years before, and she thought the rash might be just part of life after menopause, like drooping breasts, lines around her eyes, and most recently the swelling of her belly and the aching in her joints.
Unlike the adjacent brown age spots—which she knew were from too many summers in low-cut swimsuits—this was a blotchy red rash, a little scaly, and purplish in places. A trivial thing, Mrs. Dodd thought. Still, she tried applying a moisturizer whose manufacturer promised to make older skin youthful; that did nothing for it. A special formula with retinoids held the rash at bay for a few weeks, until she decided not to transport the big tube through airport security ...
