Adult Acne Causes

While teen years are normally associated with great hormonal changes in the body, young adult may also experience hormonal changes. Some people display a delayed release of reproductive hormones. These delays may be the result of poor diet, or by a neurological condition. In any case, the delay means that the production of hormones suddenly increases, after a person has completed his or her teenage years.

Products that are now being used in Europe give doctors hope for new ways to find the best treatment for adult acne. Some of those products are progesterone-estrogen combinations. Other products act as androgen receptor blockers. Products with progesterone and estrogen are being used on female adults with acne. Products with androgen receptor blockers have demonstrated the ability to control acne in older male patients.

Not all cases of adult acne are caused by hormonal changes. Sometimes an adult needs to take a medication that encourages the formation of hormones. The body metabolizes medicines. Each metabolic process in the body generally relies on chemicals called enzymes. That fact helps to explain the association between adult acne and the ingestion of certain medications.

A list of adult acne causes, like the causes of teenage acne, should include mention of P. acnes. This bacterium lives on the oily skin of people who have acne. The presence of bacteria on the skin incites the release of white blood cells, the cells of the immune system. White blood cells attacking bacteria can cause infammation of the skin.

Why do white blood cellsinflame the skin? The actions of the immune system often lead to the production of enzymes. The bacteria in the skin seek to counter the body’s attack by producing enzymes. These enzymes change the sebum in the skin into free fatty acids. Those fatty acids then inflame the skin.

Now imagine what might happen if the enzymes from the bacteria in the skin happen to mix with enzymes that are metabolizing a particular medication. This could have a truly damaging effect on the skin cells and may lead to the release of certain chemotactic factors. Those chemotactic factors then summon the release of neutrophils. The flood of new chemicals in the skin thus acts as a cause for adult acne and can lead to body acne as well.