Acne

Acne is an inflammatory disease of the skin, caused by changes in the pilosebaceous units (skin structures consisting of a hair follicle and its associated sebaceous gland). The most common form of acne is known as "acne vulgaris", which means common acne. Excessive secretion of oils from the glands combine with naturally occurring dead skin cells to block the hair follicles. Oil secretions build up beneath the blocked pore, providing a perfect environment for the skin bacteria Propionibacterium acnes to multiply uncontrolled. In response, the skin inflames, producing the visible lesion.

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The face, chest, back, shoulders and upper arms are especially affected.

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The typical acne lesions are: comedones, papules, pustules, nodules and inflammatory cysts. These are the more inflamed form of pus-filled or reddish bumps, even boil-like tender swellings. Non-inflamed 'sebaceous cysts', more properly called epidermoid cysts, occur either in association with acne or alone but are not a constant feature. After resolution of acne lesions, prominent unsightly scars may remain.

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The condition is common in puberty as a result of an abnormal response to normal levels of the male hormone testosterone. The response for most people diminishes over time and acne thus tends to disappear, or at least decrease, after one reaches about age thirty. There is, however, no way to predict how long it will take for it to disappear entirely, and some individuals will continue to suffer from acne decades later, into their thirties and forties and even beyond.

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Acne affects a large percentage of humans at some stage in life. Aside from scarring its main effects are psychological, such as reduced self-esteem and depression. Acne usually appears during adolescence, when people already tend to be most socially insecure.

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The term acne comes from a corruption of the Greek ???? (acme in the sense of a skin eruption) in the writings of A?tius Amidenus.

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Inflammatory: Inflammatory may refer to...

Skin: :For alternate meanigns see skin (disambiguation)...

Hair follicle: A hair follicle is part of the skin that grows hair by packing old cells together. Inside the follicle is the sebaceous gland, a tiny sebum-producing gland found everywhere except on the palms and soles of the feet. The thicker density of hair, the more sebaceous glands are found. At the end of the ...