Acne

Q: My daughter insists on using makeup to cover her acne but I think it is making her acne worse. Who's right?A: If the package labels on the products your daughter is using indicate that the makeup is oil-based, she should discontinue use. Frequent use will increase the number of blocked skin pores that lead to the skin lesions we call acne. On the other hand, if the labels indicate that the products are "oil free," "nonacnegenic" or "noncomedogenic," she can continue use without difficulty.

You may hate your acne, but unfortunately you can't treat it by holding your phone to your face. The marketers of the apps “AcneApp” and “Acne Pwner” have agreed in two separate cases to stop making claims without scientific evidence, according to the Federal Trade Commission. “Smartphones make our lives easier in countless ways, but unfortunately when it comes to curing acne, there's no app for that,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. According to the FTC, "the cases involving mobile apps “AcneApp” and “Acne Pwner” are the first the FTC has brought targeting health claims in the mobile application marketplace.

Acne -- the scourge of proms and first dates -- is a skin disease that, while not considered a serious medical condition, can ruin a look, undermine self-confidence and, in severe cases, cause scarring, says Dr. David Strobel, chief of dermatology at St. Agnes Hospital and a clinical instructor at Johns Hopkins Hospital. And though acne is the most common in teenagers and young adults, people in their 30s, 40s and even 50s can be afflicted by it. Overall, nearly 17 million people in the United States have acne, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Have you heard of using milk of magnesia on severe acne? My son has cystic nodular acne. He is 16 and has been under a dermatologist's care for many years. We have spent thousands of dollars, to no avail. He has recently tried a home remedy: applying milk of magnesia to his face at night before bed. He looks the best he has in four years. Can you tell us why this is working so wonderfully well? Milk of magnesia is a solution of magnesium hydroxide and is best known for its laxative action.

My teen-age daughter has acne that has gotten worse despite various diets and the vigorous use of different soaps.She is obviously troubled by the condition but has been reluctant to see a doctor.Are there useful treatments that would make it worthwhile for her to go to a doctor?Acne is the most common skin problem, occurring in about 80 percent of people at some time. Although most frequent between ages 11 and 30, acne can persist for many years. It should not be taken lightly because acne can cause permanent scarring and emotional problems.

Brian Dube was 14 when severe acne first struck."It was pretty bad," says Dube of his initiation into the blotchy hell that virtually all teen-agers experience to some degree just before and during puberty. But a five-month course of the potent drug Accutane worked miracles."My face was very, very clear" for years, says Dube, a college student who is working as a mental health counselor.Then, this year, his acne flared again. For a young man of 24 who prides himself on being "pretty well-dressed," it's distressing, he says, to wind up again with "ugly things on your face."

Q: Should a 9-year-old boy have acne on his face? It strikes me as early. He seems normal in every other way.A. Typically, acne begins during adolescence, and its appearance is felt, at least in part, to be related to the rapid hormonal changes that occur as a part of this process. Occasionally, mild acne can be seen in the immediate preadolescent years. Since normal boys in the United States can begin puberty as early as 9 or 10, the onset of acne in your son is likely a sign puberty is not far behind.

Have you heard of using milk of magnesia on severe acne? My son has cystic nodular acne. He is 16 and has been under a dermatologist's care for many years. We have spent thousands of dollars, to no avail. He has recently tried a home remedy: applying milk of magnesia to his face at night before bed. He looks the best he has in four years. Can you tell us why this is working so wonderfully well? Milk of magnesia is a solution of magnesium hydroxide and is best known for its laxative action.

Q: Is there any truth that chocolate, sodas or fried foods make acne worse?A: Eating lots of chocolate and fried foods, and drinking soda may be bad for your waistline, heart and teeth, but as far as we know, they don't affect your skin. Over the years, it's been shown that acne is caused by a combination of factors unrelated to diet.The skin cells of people prone to acne tend to be excessively sticky, causing blockage of the skin pores. Sebum, a fatty substance made deep in the pores by glands, cannot get to the skin surface.

DURING adolescence as we knew it, there were three very good reasons to hide your face from the world: glasses, braces and zits. The Holy Trinity of social ostracism.Any one of these afflictions could leave you eating alone in the cafeteria; all three and you would be slammed into lockers for sport.Not anymore.Glasses and braces are not corrective devices. They are fashion accessories. Frames are marketed by everybody from cartoon makers to couture houses. Wear glasses and your ticket is punched for contact lenses.

Acne -- the scourge of proms and first dates -- is a skin disease that, while not considered a serious medical condition, can ruin a look, undermine self-confidence and, in severe cases, cause scarring, says Dr. David Strobel, chief of dermatology at St. Agnes Hospital and a clinical instructor at Johns Hopkins Hospital. And though acne is the most common in teenagers and young adults, people in their 30s, 40s and even 50s can be afflicted by it. Overall, nearly 17 million people in the United States have acne, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Here's a question to ponder: Why is acne common in the Western, industrialized world, while the pimples that trouble American kids are rare in developing countries? It's a puzzler -- and one that prompted Australian researchers to ask whether changing the diet of teenagers would have any effect on acne. The results could change the way dermatologists think about diet. To test their theory, the Australian researchers recruited 50 young men between ages 15 and 25 with mild-to-moderate acne.

Laura Beard was flipping through a women's magazine when an advertisement caught her eye. It sounded simple enough: Aim a laser at individual blemishes - in the privacy of her home - and the skin will clear up within a day or two. The cost, $150, gave her only slight pause. If the device worked, it would save her the time and money she spent on acne treatments and dermatologist visits for herself and her daughter. "I have very dry skin, so I have to be careful about using acne remedies with benzoyl peroxide," says the 53-year-old Memphis, Tenn.

This concern has bothered me for 21 years, and I need to know whether I can stop worrying. My son is 27 years old; when he was about 6, he had a fever, and while I was taking his temperature with an old-fashioned mercury thermometer, the bulb tip broke and he ingested the mercury. He's grown into a fine, normal young man with no obvious problems. Can I assume no damage was done and nothing will surface down the road because of this incident? Swallowing a small amount of mercury from a broken thermometer does not pose a poisoning problem.

WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that it is moving ahead with a program to prevent pregnant women from accidentally taking an acne drug that can cause birth defects, despite complaints about the program from doctors and pharmacists. The agency said that "rapid and significant progress has been made" to address the concerns, and that it will launch the program, iPledge, on Wednesday. The program will require that to receive the drug isotretinoin, women of childbearing age register, test negative for pregnancy every month and use contraceptives.

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators unveiled yesterday a high-tech system to restrict distribution of Accutane, a drug that has been effective against severe acne but has long been known to cause birth defects and is being studied for a possible connection to teen suicides. Patients, doctors, pharmacists, wholesalers and manufacturers all will be required by the Food and Drug Administration to enroll and participate in an Internet-based tracking system primarily designed to ensure that women don't get pregnant while taking Accutane.

In ancient times, bad skin was considered such a curse that the complexion- challenged were shunned or stoned.Times haven't changed all that much.As beauty standards narrow, a faceful of acne can present a serious barrier to social and occupational success. A British study shows that people with acne are nearly twice as likely as those with clear skin to be unemployed."There's a great deal more importance placed on appearance than there used to be," says Dr. Roger Ceilley, past president of the American Academy of Dermatology.

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators unveiled yesterday a high-tech system to restrict distribution of Accutane, a drug that has been effective against severe acne but has long been known to cause birth defects and is being studied for a possible connection to teen suicides. Patients, doctors, pharmacists, wholesalers and manufacturers all will be required by the Food and Drug Administration to enroll and participate in an Internet-based tracking system primarily designed to ensure that women don't get pregnant while taking Accutane.

What's the best way to get rid of ticks? When I go hiking in the woods, I constantly find ticks crawling on my body. I don't want to let them loose again to bite someone else. Is there a simple way to kill them that's not too toxic? A forest ranger once told us that he takes along a roll of Scotch tape. Whenever he finds a tick he just encloses it in the tape, sticks it in his pocket and when he gets home he throws the tape in the trash. This seems like a simple and safe way to entomb and dispose of these dangerous critters that can transmit diseases.

Eager to combat life-threatening diseases from cancer to cholera, scientists have unraveled the genetic blueprints of some of the nastiest bugs that plague the human race. Now German researchers say they have the genetic code of a microbe that won't kill anybody but contributes to one of the great torments of adolescence. Reporting in the journal Science, the researchers describe the genome of the bacterium, Propionibacterium acnes. Not always an evildoer, the bug sits on the surface of everyone's skin.