Now here’s the thing. The US courts have been at work, accepting cases to prove every possible type of danger caused to humankind by every possible product. Whether it’s cars that just will not stop no matter how many times you stand on the brakes, or the attack of killer tomatoes full of salmonella, the cases just keep on coming. It’s not surprising the political parties wrestle with the idea of cutting back on the right of trial lawyers to harass successful businesses. In fact, every week you see stories of manufacturers surrendering in the face of legal challenges. Sometimes, right or wrong, it’s cheaper just to give up and walk away. So what’s the story here?
We have to cross to seas to distant islands going under the name of New Zealand. Even though these people live too far away to be considered properly civilized – no developed court system for suing manufacturers marks them out as still primitive – they have witch doctors who have been studying the effect of the key drug used to treat acne. Remarkable though this may seem, they actually managed to round up 1,700 people who have been taking this drug and followed their health for six years. All participants had severe acne that had failed to respond to the usual treatments – rubbing the skin with live toads was the standard. They all took this fierce Western drug in low doses and, remarkably, there did not seem to be any serious side effects. A few had slight cracking of the skin of their lips and minor inflammation but this cleared quickly. When people were taking a dose equivalent to 0.25mg/kg of their body weight, about 3.5% were affected by tiredness and minor mood changes but, overall, only 13 people stopped taking the drug because of the side effects. Read more…
As children, we grow up knowing the acne thing is going to happen during our teen years. As parents we watch our kids pretending everything is cool while desperately looking in mirrors. It’s pointless to say acne is just “spots”. It’s cruel and unrealistic to blame our children for inflicting this emotional trauma on each other. It’s going to take a revolution to change society and make anything less than perfect skin acceptable. Except. . . Except it’s no longer just a teen problem. More adults now find acne never really goes away. Or perhaps it’s that more adults now ask for treatment. Either way, it’s estimated about 15% of adult women up to the age of 45 years now use an acne treatment. Why is this?
Well, experts (people who sound as if they know what they are talking about)discuss changes in lifestyle. They blame increased levels of stress, poor diets and too much exercise. OK, remember balancing myths against facts can be difficult. There may be a link between acne and eating food with too much fat in it, or drinking too much alcohol. Smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke can damage your skin. Changes in hormone levels can trigger the release of more oil in the skin, i.e. as testosterone levels rise in men and women. If your stomach and bladder are not working as well as they should, toxins can build up and encourage acne.
There’s clear evidence women are more likely to be affected by hormone shifts during adolescence, the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. Taking an oral contraceptive can even out the balance between hormones but some find this a difficult choice because of their religious convictions. During pregnancy, the safest course is simple over-the-counter products like benzoyl peroxide. A recent small-scale trial at Stanford University found an increase in acne during exam times. When anyone experiences stress, the adrenal gland produces more androgens. This makes skin problems more likely. Stress also reduces the effectiveness of your autoimmune system making your body in general and skin in particular more likely to be affected by infections. Read more…
Incoming search terms for the article:
accutane is a lifestyle ,