Acne treatments vary from case to case. All treatment from mild to severe should be treated on an individual basis. Sometimes your doctor may start with a very simple and inexpensive treatment by suggesting just plain mild soap and water and watching your diet. For moderate to severe acne, a dermatologist may be recommended by your family healthcare physician. Your dermatologist may recommend treatment from topical creams or oral medications. In some instances, it may be both.

Something very simple and inexpensive is changing your diet. It has been shown that foods high in fat and grease will contribute to the onset of acne. There has been some discussion over whether chocolate make a young teen break out. However, scientists and dermatologists disagree that chocolate is the reason for developing acne. Drinking plenty of water and eating healthy foods will help deter the problem. However, it is very likely that 90% of all pre-teens, teens and young adults will develop some form of acne. Diet is not the only factor, stress as well may add to the risk of developing acne.

Topical treatments alone may be enough to control acne over the long term. It is recommended that people who treat their acne with a combination of oral antibiotics and topical gels may be able to stop the treatment after a few months and just rely on the topical treatment.

A study of 253 people with severe acne, were given an antibiotic, or an antibiotic plus the topical medication adapalene. When their acne symptoms improved, they stopped taking the antibiotic. Researchers evaluated the patients at 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks.

The found that 75% of the people who continued using adapalene maintained the improvement in their acne, compared to 54 percent of the people who had only been treated with an antibiotic.

Another study looked at a different acne gel, tazarotene, in people with moderately severe to severe acne. Patients were treated with tazarotene along with an antibiotic for 12 weeks. Those whose skin improved were then randomly assigned to use tazarotene gel plus a placebo, a placebo gel plus an antibiotic, or tazarotene plus antibiotics for another 12 weeks.

The researchers found little different between the three treatment regimens. The researchers say the findings are important because they show long-term use of antibiotics is important as more bacteria become resistant to the drugs.

One new form of treatment is the laser therapy. More specifically Blue Light. Bluelight therapy. So far the Federal Drug Administration has approved Bluelight therapy for treating acne. Blue light works by killing the bacteria that causes acne. This type of treatment does not contain ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light, main form of light therapy used to treat acne at one time. Ultraviolet light can actually damage the skin and is not used to treat acne anymore.

Patients of blue light therapy receive several treatments in. The standard treatment will require 8 sessions over a for week period which last approximately 15 minutes.

Remember not all treatments work the same on everyone. Each case should be treated on an individual basis. Consultation with your physician or dermatologist is always recommended first.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Acne

Are you studying the principals behind a better diet? Mediterranean food diets are increasing in popularity because they are not based on popularized fads but rather a model which comes from literally thousands of years of use. The Mediterranean diet is inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of the Mediterranean area, particularly Italy, Greece, and Spain. Understanding how the Mediterranean Diet differs from the typical American diet can help us to improve our eating habits and enjoy improved health through enjoyable dietary changes.

The most noticeable characteristic of the Mediterranean Diet is high consumption of fruits and vegetables, bread and other cereals, olive oil and fish. Red meat is an infrequent source of protein in the Mediterranean Diet. Compared to the typical American diet, this may seem almost exotic. Meals fashioned after the Mediterranean Diet have a distinctively rich flavor because of the common use of olive oil as the source of fat in preparation compared to the margarine and highly processed, hydrogenated vegetable oils used in the preparation of American meals. As fat has a higher calorie density than protein and carbohydrates, portion sizes also appear more modest when compared to the size of a meal Americans often expect to receive from a restaurant. The result is a nutrient rich diet, high in fiber, with a low glycemic index, which includes lean protein sources and high quality sources of fat.

While the Mediterranean Diet has been developed over time since as far back as when the Iliad was a new story, it was “discovered” by an American doctor, Ancel Keys, in 1945. When compared to modern common American dietary practices, the Mediterranean Diet appears to be paradoxical. People living in Mediterranean countries tend to consume relatively high amounts of fat, and yet they have far lower rates of cardiovascular disease than in countries like the United States.

If we compare the sources of fat between the Mediterranean Diet and the typical American diet we can see that the fat sources in the Mediterranean Diet are of much higher quality and fat sources like extra virgin olive oil also contain excellent sources of antioxidants which have been shown to protect the body from conditions that lead to cardiovascular disease. Olive oil has also been shown to reduce blood cholesterol while the animal fats consumed by the typical American tend to increase cholesterol levels.

Red wine consumption is also a positive factor in many Mediterranean Diets. Rich in flavonoids, these powerful antioxidants come from the skins, seeds and stems of grapes which are what make a red wine red during fermentation. White wines are fermented without these components and therefore have lower levels of antioxidants. Regular, moderate consumption of red wine has been shown to have significant benefit in cardiovascular health because of the regular ingestion of these antioxidants.

Genetics, lifestyle, and environment may also be involved in the health benefits enjoyed by people of these Mediterranean cultures, but when compared to the typical diet of an American, the Mediterranean Diet offers a higher quality source of foods which should bring a benefit in a variety of health factors for nearly anyone who includes them as their source of nourishment.

Dave Saunders is a professional lecturer, and certified nutritional educator. He enjoys creating interconnections through his writings and lectures to help others create context and see new discoveries and technologies in more a practical light. You can find out more about new discoveries in health and nutrition at http://www.glycoboy.com

Acne is a terrible condition to deal with especially during the difficult adolescent years and indeed for the many adults having to deal with it.

Today there are many ways of treating acne some more effective than others but what of the myths surrounding this awful skin condition?

One myth is that acne is related to diet but it is agreed amongst the dermatology community that acne and diet are no way related. Although science is not always 100% accurate there is no firm evidence that chocolate, sugar, oil, milk, seafood or any other types of food cause acne or make it worse. Some people are quite convinced that a certain food either causes or aggravates their acne condition. For these people the obvious thing then is to avoid that food and remove it from their diets. Chocolate has often been accused of aggravating acne but there have been many clinical studies performed and the resounding agreement is ‘no’, chocolate is not a culprit!

It is also believed that washing your face more often will help clear this skin affliction. But contrary to belief, blemishes are not caused by dirt and pores do not get blocked from the top down. The reality is, is that the entire pore collapses from within the skin which begins the acne process and frequent washing will do absolutely nothing in preventing this. In fact over washing can irritate and actually worsen the condition of acne. The advice given concerning the washing of the face is to wash only twice a day and do not use a flannel but use only the bare hands.

Another myth concerning acne is that stress can be a factor but regardless of this common belief, that is not true and stress is not a very important factor. Some drugs prescribed to treat severe stress may cause acne as a side effect, but stress in itself is no aggravator. Time should be spent finding help for the acne rather than feeling guilty that your stress levels are causing the problem.

Some people believe that the sun will help in ridding them of the acne spots and pimples. In the short term the sun may hasten the clearing of existing acne whilst reddening the skin which will then take on a reddish tone and blend in with the red acne marks. But the fact is a sun-tan is actually damaging to the skin and exposure to the sun can cause irritation which in fact will make the acne worse. The sun can only be a short-term fix which will in later weeks bite back causing more problems.

The most antiquated myth concerning acne is that masturbation or sex causes acne. This in fact dates way back to the 17th century in the hope that it would stop youngsters from having pre marital sex. Needless to say this is just a myth used as a scare tactic.

There are many treatments available to help treat acne. Some can be purchased over the counter but if the condition is more severe then a trip to the doctors will help enormously.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Acne