Adult Acne - What Causes It?

According to the UK's National Health Service (NHS), around 80-90% of people between the ages of 13 and 18 will suffer from acne in some form or other in their lifetime.

Many acne sufferers, especially young people, will be able to treat themselves and manage their condition with medication purchased over the counter (without prescription). However, for some people more intensive treatment will be required and therefore a visit to the doctor or perhaps a dermatologist will be required. Many authorities on the subject suggest that by the time most young sufferers reach their early 20s they will no longer suffer from acne. Although occasionally people with extremely sensitive skin may continue to suffer from the condition well into their 40s. There is also late onset acne which is only experienced when someone reaches adulthood.

Acne has no gender preference and both men or women can fall prey to this condition. However there are differing types of skin irritation and spots. It has been said that men tend to get more severe, longer lasting acne whereas women may be more likely to get the condition due to hormonal issues, menstrual cycle, and even as a result of a reaction to cosmetics used on their skin.

Widespread statistics would also suggest that men are less likely than women to seek advice for their acne from a dermatologist.

Acne and Hormones

Sex hormones play a major part in the flourishing of acne, as do hormones generally. During puberty, large amounts of hormones are produced, including testosterone which is the main hormone produced by males and progesterone and oestrogen which are the main female hormones. Interestingly enough, women also produce testosterone as oestrogen is made up from testosterone by special cells found in the ovaries. However not all of this testosterone is used therefore some of it will pass into the blood stream and work its way around the body. Testosterone is the hormone that encourages the sebaceous glands to expand and become over stimulated thereby accelerating the condition of acne.

Differing types of acne

Many types of acne have been recognised by dermatologists and some are listed below.

· Occupational acne

· Adolescent acne

· Infantile acne

· Keloid acne

· Cosmetic induced acne

· Drug induced acne

Each of the above listed types of acne can become apparent in people of any age, apart obviously from infantile acne which as the name suggests only becomes apparent in babies.

The most common form of acne is the adolescent type which is mainly due to the increased hormone levels during puberty.

Drug induced acne can be caused by medication or some types of drugs.

Cosmetic induced acne can be caused by using certain types of cosmetics too frequently.

Keloid acne is usually thought of as a more severe type of acne and usually manifests itself by way of bumpy unpleasant spots.

Occupational acne is generally caused by close contact with harsh chemicals.

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Not Many People Know What Causes Acne

Today we are going to talk about a very interesting topic: "What causes acne?" There are many theories floating around the web, so I've decided to spare you some time and summarize everything you need to know.

What is acne? Well, it is a very nasty - and sometimes painful - skin disease. In most cases, it is not dangerous, but when incorrectly treated can leave scars. Because our skin pores are connected to glands, it allows sebum - an oily secretion that carries dead skin - to block our follicles and therefore causing pimples to appear.

What causes acne? Well, that is the "one million dollar" question, isn't it? Dermatologists aren't complete sure about it either, but they have made some valid theories that I'm going to discuss today. Keep in mind though, that there are multiple variables that need to be kept in mind when trying to determine what causes this skin disease.

Dietary Problems

One of the most common causes of acne is eating unhealthy foods. Don't fall into this false misconception that foods do not influence the skin, because as studies have shown, the unhealthier you eat, the more likely you will suffer from acne.

What shouldn't you eat? Well, staying away from processed foods would be a good start, because the chemicals can cause hormonal imbalances in your body, which on its hand can leave its mark on the skin.

Stress

I'm not kidding. As recent studies have shown, there is a direct correlation between stress and acne breakouts. The more stressed you are, the more hormones your glands produce; and as it does that, we start to see pimples on our bodies.

So as you can see, it is important to be able to relax. Although, in the 21st century - where the economy is as bad as ever - this could turn out to be one heck of a challenge.

Hormonal Causes

I've already touched on this. If your body experiences an imbalance in hormonal levels it can lead to acne. When sebaceous glands start to produce a great amount of sebum, dead skin cells block pores on your epidermis. This leads to intense development of acne bacteria and that's when the inflammatory process begins.

Not Enough Vitamins In Your Body

I'm sure your parents have already told you this, but if your body lacks vitamins, it becomes very vulnerable to many diseases. The reason is simple: vitamins eliminate toxins and wastes from your body, and if this doesn't happen you increase the chances of the development of acne bacteria.

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Causes of Acne - Does Eating Chocolate Cause Acne?

Introduction

Bet your mother or father told you that when you enter your teen years you will have to cut down or completely eliminate your consumption of chocolate. Why? Because you will develop a severe case of acne and subsequently have acne scars for the rest of your life.

Well let's explore that and see what causes acne to develop and why chocolate does not contribute to the development of acne.

How Acne Develops

Close to 50 million people in the United States will develop acne this year. Most of those who will suffer from this embarrassing condition will be teenagers going through puberty.

The direct cause of acne is not known, but it is believed to be triggered by a hormone imbalance in the human body. This is exactly what teenagers are undergoing when they undergo puberty, a significant hormone imbalance.

This is further supported by the fact that women who take certain birth control pills or are undergoing stress, also have a hormone imbalance and have a tendency to develop an acne breakout.

When you get this hormone imbalance, the body's skin will start to excrete sebum (oil) in larger amounts than normal. This excess oil will allow dead skin on the surface of the skin to clump together.

When this clumping occurs, it can block the pores allowing for an ideal environment for bacteria to grow. As the bacteria grows, the immune system responds by attacking the growing bacteria, causing inflammation, thus acne.

Chocolate And Acne

So when you consume chocolate it will need to either upset your hormones in your body or cause your body to secrete more body oils than normal. But so far research has shown that eating chocolate will not cause you to make more sebum or upset your hormones.

So there is no connection between acne and chocolate.

What Does Chocolate Do To The Body

There are a couple of negative aspects for consuming chocolate. It can make you fat if you consume too much and can cause you to have a sugar spike in your blood.

But if you consume chocolate in small doses, such as one square of dark chocolate a day, you can realize the following benefits:

Chocolate has been found to be beneficial to the brain.It is also beneficial to your body because it relieves hypertension by expanding or dilating your blood vessels.It also contains magnesium which helps convert your food to energy.

Conclusion

Acne is believed to be caused by a hormone imbalance in the body causing the body to secrete more sebum than normal. Chocolate has been found not to cause a hormone imbalance nor does it cause the body to secrete more sebum than normal.

Based on this, chocolate and acne are not connected, but dark chocolate, taken in moderation, can be beneficial to the body in general.

Jimmy C has been studying skin care for many years because of his skin problems in his youth and he is the Editor in Chief of a number of skin care web sites. Being a victim of acne in his younger days, he has researched this subject to help people prevent and stop acne. He has also studied many aspects of caring for the bodies skin and keeping it youthful and free of irritants.

For more information on caring for acne or other facial blemishes and keeping your youthful appearance go to his web sites at http://www.skinguidelines.com/p/causes-and-cures-for-acne.html or http://www.squidoo.com/cause-and-cures-of-acne.

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Causes of Acne - Does Eating Greasy Foods Or Chocolate Cause Acne?

Introduction

Since your pre-teen days, your parents have warned you that eating greasy foods and especially chocolate, will cause you to develop acne. Can you imagine not being to eat your favorite foods, such as French fries or chocolate?

Not me! But let me give you some scientific findings. Scientist have not found one shred of evidence that links greasy foods and especially chocolate, to the development of acne.

Causes Of Acne

What research has found is that the cause of acne is because of the excess secretion of sebum or oil from your skin. This production of excess amounts of sebum is linked to the imbalance of hormones in your body that occurs during puberty years, taking medicines or if you are under stress, to name a few causes.

This sebum will cause the dead skin to clump on your skins pores trapping bacteria in the pores. When this happens, the bacterium begins to grow triggering a response from your immune system.

The response of your immune system is to attack the bacteria causing inflammation, acne, pimples, blackheads and whiteheads.

Greasy Foods

Since these foods have been proven to not cause acne, it is not an open season to go and eat all the greasy foods you want. Greasy foods, especially those cooked with saturated or trans fats are bad for your health. Much worse than developing acne.

Health conditions that can develop from you eating too much of this greasy foods are clogged arteries, high blood pressure and heart disease.

If you must have foods cooked in grease, cook your foods with unsaturated fats and eat foods or take supplements, with Essential Fatty Acids (Fish Oil). This will provide the proper fats to build fluid cell walls allowing for the easy absorption of nutrients and discharge of wastes.

Chocolate

Now chocolate on the other hand is better for you than greasy foods. Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, contain vitamins D, E and antioxidants. All three of these are excellent for you skin and body.

It is recommended that you eat a maximum of six grams (one square) of dark chocolate, to get the full benefits from it.

Conclusion

Those threats your parents told you about greasy foods and chocolate causing acne, have no bases in fact. In fact, research has shown no connection to development of acne and eating chocolate and greasy foods.

What has been found is excess sebum, caused by an imbalance in your hormones, will cause you to develop acne. This imbalance can be caused by a number of reasons with the top two being puberty and stress.

Jimmy C has been studying skin care for many years because of his skin problems in his youth and he is the Editor in Chief of a number of skin care web sites. He has studied many aspects of caring for the bodies skin and keeping it youthful and free of irritants. He has helped many people keep their youthful appearance and operates the web site http://www.skinguidelines.com/ which discusses many aspects of caring for the skin.

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What Is Acne, Different Types And What Causes It

Acne is a skin condition characterized by raised bumps or lesions that primarily occurs on a person's face, neck, shoulders, and back. Oil and dead skin cells plugging the hair follicles cause the raised bumps and lesions. Contrary to the opinion of many teenagers, acne is not a life threatening condition although some types of acne can lead to scars on the skin. For some people, acne can cause social isolation, depression, and anxiety due to concern about their appearance. The emotional issues usually subside in most cases without significant professional intervention.

Types of Acne

Medical professionals classify acne into two types: non-inflammatory lesions and inflammatory lesions. The non-inflammatory lesions are formed when the oil produced in a hair follicle and dead skin cells form a plug and block the hair follicle. These types of lesions are called comedores. The lesion where the comedore is open at the surface of the skin is called a black head, due to its dark appearance. Comedores close at the skin's surface are known as white heads.

Inflammatory lesions are the result of the oil and dead skin cells becoming blocked and then irritated. Sometimes these lesions become infected. Papules, also known as pimples, are small red tender bumps arising from an infection in the hair follicle. Pustules are small red bumps that have a white pus-filled head, also caused by an infection in the hair follicle. Nodules are large solid bumps that lie beneath the surface of the skin. An accumulation of oil deep in a blocked hair follicle causes the formation of a nodule, which is often painful. A cyst is a large pus filled lump beneath the surface of the skin, which also can be painful. Cysts are similar to boils and have the potential to leave scars.

Causes of Acne

The three primary causes of acne are as follows: the overproduction of oil in the skin follicle; dead skin cells shedding irregularly and the accumulation of bacteria in the hair follicle. Acne, which can occur at all ages, is more prevalent in adolescents because of their bodies producing a great deal of androgens, hormones that can increase the oil production that leads to acne. Medications, such as corticosteroids, lithium, and birth control pills, can also precipitate an outbreak of acne. Additionally, in some people, the consumption of dairy products and foods high in simple carbohydrates that lead to a rapid rise in blood sugar can lead to acne outbreaks.

While acne tends to be unpleasant to deal with, it usually can be treated with over the counter remedies without professional intervention. Acne is a very troubling disease for those whose suffer from the effects of this annoying condition. For many people in can be a total embarrassment if it is very serious and the best way is to reach to the root of its causes and try to find a solution. With severe acne products, you always have a unique liberty to mull over the causes of acne before stepping in to fight this battle.

Now, I invite you to take a look at http://www.severeacneproducts.com/ where you will discover what I have shared with you on how to deal with the effects of Acne and some products that can assist you with this problem.

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Causes of adult acne – Why, after all these years?

Adult acne seems like the most unreasonable thing that mother nature can throw at you as you move into your late twenties and thirties. As trade-offs go, having to hold down a job and pay bills is probably a fair price to pay for not having your teen acne bringing you down. But then adult acne shows up and all of a sudden you have the worst of both worlds. What is going on? Your voice broke years ago, you aren’t getting any taller and you’ve stopped blushing at the most inopportune of times. So why are you all of a sudden dealing with blackheads and zits again?

The chances are that you fall into one or more of three categories. The main three causes of adult acne are hormones, stress and genetic predisposition. Hormonal imbalances can be caused by a number of different factors, some of which are environmental and others which are down to more specific factors. Either way, it can trigger a case of acne. Alternatively you may be experiencing a great deal of stress in the workplace or in your personal life. Stress causes the overproduction of stress hormones, which are a guaranteed way of causing acne.

Finally, genetics are known to play a part in causing adult acne – if your parents, or one of them, were prone to it then you may well be too. In fact, if even one of your parents was a sufferer of adult acne, the chances that you will be as well quadruple. Hardly fair, is it?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 14th, 2011 at 9:57 pm and is filed under Acne Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Causes of adult acne – Why, after all these years?

Adult acne seems like the most unreasonable thing that mother nature can throw at you as you move into your late twenties and thirties. As trade-offs go, having to hold down a job and pay bills is probably a fair price to pay for not having your teen acne bringing you down. But then adult acne shows up and all of a sudden you have the worst of both worlds. What is going on? Your voice broke years ago, you aren’t getting any taller and you’ve stopped blushing at the most inopportune of times. So why are you all of a sudden dealing with blackheads and zits again?

The chances are that you fall into one or more of three categories. The main three causes of adult acne are hormones, stress and genetic predisposition. Hormonal imbalances can be caused by a number of different factors, some of which are environmental and others which are down to more specific factors. Either way, it can trigger a case of acne. Alternatively you may be experiencing a great deal of stress in the workplace or in your personal life. Stress causes the overproduction of stress hormones, which are a guaranteed way of causing acne.

Finally, genetics are known to play a part in causing adult acne – if your parents, or one of them, were prone to it then you may well be too. In fact, if even one of your parents was a sufferer of adult acne, the chances that you will be as well quadruple. Hardly fair, is it?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 14th, 2011 at 9:57 pm and is filed under Acne Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

View the original article here