Acne Causes & Myths
Genetics & Hormones
Genetics and hormones are by far the leading cause of acne and unfortunately, cannot be avoided. Genetics plays a key role because if you’re parents and siblings have a history of acne, this greatly increases your chance of developing it during your life as well. This does not mean it will be identical to your family, it could be far less or more severe and there is not any way to tell which it will be until it actually happens. Acne really is something that can just “run in the family.”
Hormones, while tied to genetics in some cases, will start to change once you reach puberty and during the menstrual cycle every month for women. These hormone fluctuations cannot be avoided either, but others that have an indirect effect on acne can. One example of this is stress. While whether or not stress directly causes acne is still highly debated and unknown, it is known to have an indirect effect on acne that varies from person to person. If an individual is stressed out a lot for an extended period of time, this stress can cause hormonal changes that can do a number of things to your body, including acne. Acne solutions, such as the Lexli Acne Kit, can help solve your acne problems here, as well as remembering to deal with stress in a healthy manor and not let it overrun your daily life.
Occupational Acne
Occupational acne is a localized form of acne caused by exposure of the skin to chemicals and other irritant substances found in the workplace. The incidence of occupational acne has fallen in recent years due the strengthening of Health and Safety legislation and improved industrial working practices.
Cases of occupational acne are in many instances self-diagnosed by the person. Although the spots caused by occupational acne are of the characteristic acne type, it is usually possible to match the pattern of acne spots to the pattern of chemical exposure. The distribution of the spots on the body tends to be localized and quite unlike that found in the other clinical types of acne. The spots of occupational acne develop only on areas of skin which have come into direct contact with acne-causing chemicals or irritant substances, which are usually found mostly in the workplace or may also be used in some hobby activities. The development in someone of working age of acne-type spots with an unusual pattern of distribution on the body makes occupational acne a likely diagnosis. This diagnosis can be confirmed if the patient's medical history reveals that his/her work or hobbies involve exposure to chemicals capable of causing acne.
Grease and petroleum-based cutting oils cause oil acne. Blisters and small spots in areas where oil exposure is heavy, such as the arms and hands, mark oil acne. But other areas such as the abdomen and thighs may be affected especially if they are covered with oil-soaked clothes. The obstructed pores of the skin develop plugs formed by the oil and keratin which the presence of air turns black.
People with oil acne should see a physician. Without treatment, the condition may persist for months after the exposure to oil stops. Skin lesions caused by repeated exposure to petroleum products, if not treated properly, may develop over a long period into skin cancer.
The features associated with oil acne include darkening of the skin and an abnormal reaction of the skin to sunlight. Darkening of the skin is caused by excessive production of the pigment melanin. It occurs mainly on sites that are heavily exposed to cutting oils and are simultaneously exposed to sunlight. It occurs because of exposure to a chemical alone and also depends on the presence of sunlight, which can make some chemicals more toxic.
Coal-tar products cause coal-tar acne. The oily substance and keratin form the black plugs that mark coal-tar acne. These plugs are typically found around the eyes. In general, coal-tar acne clears rapidly but in some cases it may persist long after the exposure stops. People with coal-tar acne may experience skin darkening. They also may report burning sensations and flushing of the skin after exposure to light. As with oil, the skin lesions caused by exposure to coal-tar products, if not treated properly, may develop into skin cancer.
Exposure to various halogenated aromatic compounds causes’ chloracne. The oily substance and keratin form the yellow cysts and gray plugs that mark chloracne. The skin lesions occur mainly in the face, but in more severe cases they involve the shoulders and chest, the back, and the abdomen. In the most serious cases, the lesions appear also on the arms, thighs, legs, hands and feet. Direct skin contact is the most common way of developing chloracne, but ingestion and inhalation are also responsible. Chloracne can develop from three to four weeks after exposure and it may last up to fifteen years even if exposure stops.
The complications associated with chloracne include liver disease, bronchitis, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. There is also a poisonous effect on the nervous system resulting in symptoms such as headache, fatigue, irritability, sweating of the palms, and numbness in the legs.
Acne Prevention?
Occupational acne can be avoided by measures such as personal protection and hygiene, and technical controls. Personal hygiene, including hand washing, is very important to prevent occupational acne. Workplaces can provide change rooms, showers and bath facilities, and workers should wear clean coveralls daily.
High Risk Jobs:
Examples of High Risk Job Associated with Occupational Acne:
- Oil-induced acne in workers in the automobile industry
- Acne and folliculitis due to diesel oil
- In fast food restaurants, acne may be seen in cooks who work in a kitchen with fry vats
- Oil acne from mineral oil among workers making prefabricated concrete panels
- Chloracne associated with employment in the production of pentachlorophenol
- Chloracne from pentachlorophenol-preserved wood
- Remove or replace PCB contaminated fluid in transformers
- Work with toxic chemicals that could be spilled or released
- Apply coal tar pitch to cables, pipes, or roofs
Medications causing Acne
There are several medications that can trigger a breakout of acne, or aggravate an existing case of acne. Many of these medications and classes of medication are mentioned below and are very helpful in treating acne outbreaks. In general, any unusual stress or illness may aggravate acne or even cause an acne breakout. In some cases it may be difficult to determine what is causing or aggravating the acne: the illness, the medication you are taking for the illness or your physical or mental stress over the illness. Caution: If you are taking a prescription medication for a medical condition and the medicine your doctor prescribes causes acne or makes your acne worse, don't stop taking the medicine. Consult your doctor to see if he or she can recommend a different medication that will work for your condition and not perpetuate the acne problem. If he can, then the acne should clear. If, however, you need that particular medicine and only that medicine to control a medical condition, common sense dictates that you should continue the medication and, if possible, control the acne. The other option is learn to live with it and safe ways to cover the blemishes. Acne may be a psychological "pain in the neck" but it isn't dangerous and will not affect your physical health.
Contraceptives: Contraceptives are sometimes prescribed to control acne because these medications affect the body's hormone balance and hormones are a direct link to acne problems. Oral contraceptives contain both estrogen and progestin hormones, the estrogen is fairly stable between brands of contraceptives but there are several different types of progestin and each one will have a different effect.
Oral contraceptives that are most likely to cause worse acne are those that have a low estrogen content and a type of progestin that increases the androgen (male hormone) levels in women. The ONLY women, who will be affected, however, are those women who have a tendency toward androgenicity.
Keep in mind that most women, if they have an acne problem, find that their acne improves when using oral contraceptives. It is the tendency toward androgenicity in some woman that will cause or aggravate acne.
Anticonvulsants: Certain anticonvulsants (such as Dilantin) are prescribed for the treatment of epilepsy and other kinds of seizures as well as for bipolar disorder and some forms of depression. Most anticonvulsants list acne as a common side-effect. Lithium has also been a popular treatment for bipolar disorder and depression. Lithium can also cause acne breakouts.
Corticosteroids: Corticosteroids (like Prednisone) are often used to treat asthma and other chronic lung diseases. Like cortisol, a natural steroid produced by the body during times of intense stress, corticosteroids can stimulate sebum production and lead to acne blemishes.
Immunosuppressants: Immuran is an immunosuppressant that is used to suppress the immune system in patients awaiting an organ transplant. It can also suppress the patient's natural ability to fight the bacteria that cause acne.
Sobriety medications: Antabuse (commonly called Disulfuram) is a prescription medicine that is intended to help alcoholics stop drinking. The regular use of Antabuse has been known to cause acne in some of the recovering alcoholics.
Steroids: Systemic steroids are synthetic versions of the body's natural steroid, cortisol. Cortisol is normally produced by adrenal glands; systemic steroids are taken to supplement or replace cortisol. Some of these steroids are prednisone, prednisolone, ethylprednisolone, betamethasone, dexamethasone, triamcinolone and hydrocortisone. While some systemic steroids are prescribed for some skin conditions but may, in certain patients, also cause a breakout of acne while curing the original skin condition.
Anabolic steroids: Anabolic steroids such as danazol, stanozolol are used (and sometimes abused) by athletes and body-builders to increase muscle bulk. These steroids will cause severe cases of acne in some of its users.
Thyroid Medications: Thyroid is a gland located beneath the voice box (larynx) that produces thyroid hormone. The thyroid helps regulate growth and metabolism. Some thyroid medications (such as Thiourea and Thiouracil) are known to trigger acne. These preparations are used to stimulate the thyroid gland in patients with low thyroid function. Large amounts of iodine, which also helps to regulate thyroid function, can also cause breakouts.
Food: While your diet will not directly cause you to develop acne, there are certain ingredients in many foods that you may not be allergic to and not even know it.
Beer: is one of the most common examples because one of its main ingredients is yeast. Yeast is used in beer to cause fermentation, which produces alcohol as it consumes the sugars from the other ingredients. So how exactly does this make you break out? Well, if your body is allergic to yeast, consuming beer will introduce yeast into your body and it will be viewed as a toxin. This toxicity can cause a number of things to happen depending on the severity of your allergy and acne developing is one of them. The only way to know if beer will cause you to develop acne is by actually drinking beer, but even then it can vary greatly from person to person depending on your body’s sensitivity to yeast.
Vitamin A:Recent studies have shown that below normal levels of vitamin A are associated with acne breakouts. Why there is a correlation between acne and vitamin A is still unknown, but doctors believe that vitamin A plays an important role in sebaceous gland health, which means an unhealthy sebaceous gland will produce too much oil for your skin and therefore lead to breakouts.
Low-glycemic load diet: A recent from Australia suggests that a Low-glycemic load diet – a diet low in sugars with moderate levels of carbohydrates and not as low in fat and protein – may be beneficial in controlling acne. The results of this study suggest that increases in dietary glycemic load may augment the biological activity of sex hormones and IGF-I, suggesting that these diets may aggravate potential factors involved in acne development.
Skim Milk: Another study from Harvard School of Public Health published recently suggested a positive association between intake of skim milk and acne. This finding suggests that skim milk contains hormonal constituents, or factors that influence endogenous hormones, in sufficient quantities to have biological effects in consumers.
A recent review article in the journal Seminars in Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery suggested that there is some evidence now showing how diet may directly or indirectly influence the following 5 proximate causes of acne:
Increased proliferation of basal keratinocytes within the pilosebaceous duct.
Incomplete separation of ductal cells from one another via impairment of growth processes and subsequent obstruction of the pilosebaceous duct.
Aandrogen-mediated increases in sebum production.
Colonization of the ducts by Propionibacterium acnes.
Inflammation both within and adjacent to the ducts.
References:
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
www.cdc.gov
Haz-Map - Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents
Specialized Information Services (SIS)
U.S. National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health