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Comprehesive overview of acne
 
 

Acne Overview - Causes and Treatment

By Dr. Richard Thomas.

Acne - What is it?


Acne is something that we can all recognize. We see acne in two populations: Teenage individuals with acne, and more and more commonly the young woman who has never had acne as a teen who now presents with acne.

It's (Acne) on the face, and the trunk. We think of it as two components when we look at it. One is no inflammation-blackheads and whiteheads. The other where there is inflammation-pimples, zits, nodules, cysts.

The problem with acne is that it can cause scarring on the skin.

Acne - What causes it?


There does seem to be a genetic component to acne, especially in those that have severe acne.

It's an issue of the oil glands being super sensitive to the hormones and the testosterone that drives the oil glands to produce the kind of oil that allows clogging of the pores, and allows bacteria-P.Acnes to grow in high numbers which then causes an inflammatory reaction.

The precise cause-we don't actually know, but those are the mechanisms that are understood.

Treating acne comprehensively


Acne is an inflammatory condition. Even early on there is inflammation in people who have white heads and blackheads. We think of topical therapy and systemic therapy. Topical therapy is the creams and the gels. They are trying to unclog the white heads and the blackheads.

We also use retinoids-they reduce the inflammation and inhibit the bacteria with Benzoyl peroxide, etc.

Systemically, we use the birth control pills for girls to try and block the effect of testosterone on the skin.

We use anti-inflammatory antibiotics such as the tetracycline family, which are really anti-inflammatories-this is not an infection.

For very resistant or severe acne, we use a drug called isotretinoin, which is a type of vitamin A, which is the only drug that has a chance of actually curing acne.

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