Acne
Though common and virtually never life-threatening, acne is a potentially disfiguring skin disease which often strikes those in an emotionally and developmentally vulnerable stage of life-adolescence. It affects the glands in the skin which secrete the natural lubrication (sebum) for the hair follicles and surrounding skin, which are located in greatest concentrations on the face, back, shoulders and chest.
Acne lesions are of several types. Blackheads (comedones) are glands plugged with excessive material which discolours on exposure to air. Whiteheads are small collections of pus within glands, and nodules or papules are the red, inflamed areas of more extensive infection.
Is acne hereditary?
Acne is not an inherited disease in the medical sense of the word. However, acne is more common in children of parents who have had or still have acne. Looking at it the other way, if you look at parents of children with acne, more of them have acne or have had acne than parents of children who do not have acne. If you look at twins, you will usually see acne in both twins if they are identical while the incidence of acne affecting both non-identical twins is much less.
There is no way of predicting whether or not the child of a patient with severe acne will develop acne or if the child does, how severe it will be.
Is acne hormonal?
Although the abnormality in the skin is caused by the effect of the hormone testosterone, the levels of this hormone in patients with acne is generally normal.
Testosterone is the male sex hormone and is present in both men and women. In women its main effects are counteracted by the female hormones.
Men with acne usually have normal levels of testosterone in the blood. Women with acne may have slight abnormalities in the levels of testosterone but these do not influence treatment and there is no reason to measure hormone levels in these patients.
There is a condition called the polycystic ovary syndrome, in which women may be overweight, develop excessive body and facial hair, have irregular periods and may suffer from infertility. Some of these patients do develop acne, and this seems to be related to an abnormality of hormone levels in these patients.