Is the cure for acne almost at hand?

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 22:55:00 +0000

Four out of five Americans between the ages of 12 and 24 develop acne on their skin, but scientists still struggle to explain its cause. Although clinicians have long assumed that bacteria play an important role, the latest evidence suggests that key genetic differences among the bacterial strains that live in your pores make the difference between picture-perfect skin and unsightly pimples.

A team of scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, The Genome Institute at Washington University in Saint Louis and the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute has conducted the most exhaustive study of acne-associated bacteria yet. As they report in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology (JID) on February 28, the researchers found that some strains may contribute to skin disease whereas others could help fend it off.

My year of heroin and acne

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 00:30:00 +0000

I got a pedicure each time I promised myself I’d stop doing heroin -- which is to say, I got pedicures all summer. Pedicures gave me the false notion that I was about to get it together. I wasn’t functioning well — my brain cells were spent and my serotonin was depleted. Sitting in a chair, despondent, was all I felt like doing.

My acne had taken over any joy in my life at that point and I was having opiate withdrawal, so I’d go to the nail salon in the middle of the day when it was quiet and I could avoid seeing humans. I liked eating the candy from the candy bowl. I took handfuls of Dum Dum pops, peppermints, butterscotch and those strawberry candies with the gooey middle that grandmothers always have. I sat in the massage chair, crunched down on my candies and watched Lifetime movies with subtitles. I pushed buttons on the remote to control the strength of the massage, and I drifted off. I hated myself. I actually hated myself. I never got manicures. They would be too much work, sitting upright and making small talk. Plus, I bite my fingernails down too low for them to be manicured. A disgusting addiction, but in comparison to my other addictions, I let it slide. I have too many battles to fight with myself, so I choose them carefully.

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Is the cure for acne almost at hand?

My year of heroin and acne