Acne Awareness Month Honored by Nearly 4,000 Dermatologists

Nearly 4,000 leading dermatologists have enhanced their practice Websites with in-depth acne education resources for June in honor of Acne Awareness Month.The acne content aims help their patients manage acne and understand their acne treatment options.

Acne Handouts on Dermatologist's Website

For instance, Dermatologists of SW Ohio in Dayton, Ohio has added over 100 patient handouts regarding skin care topics to the practice’s own Website, including in-depth references to help their  patients manage their acne.

Dermatologists have published patient handouts online that cover a wide range of acne topics, including:

• adult acne, teenage acne, truncal acne, acne scars
• mild acne, moderate acne, and severe acne
• acne medications, such as topical retinoids (Differin, Epiduo, Retin A Micro), isotretinoin and oral antibiotics (minocycline, Solodyn).

Nearly 80% of people will experience some form of acne during their lifetimes. Acne is the most common skin disorder in the United States, affecting 60 million Americans at any one time, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). The American Acne and Rosacea Society (AARS) has established June as National Acne Awareness Month to increase awareness of the impact of acne on people’s lives and the various acne treatment options that are available.

The management of acne has evolved over the years with recent Acne Management Guidelines emphasizing the importance of early treatment prior to the formation of acne scars and the use of a topical retinoid as a mainstay of acne treatment and for long-term use to keep acne under control.

Newer acne treatment options include photodynamic therapy (PDT) and the development of combination acne medications that combine two active ingredients into one convenient formulation. More recent combination medications include Acanya, Epiduo, and Ziana.

There has long been rumor that a poor diet and consumption of junk food was associated with the development of acne, but this was long rebutted by “medical science”. However, more recent clinical studies have shown that high carbohydrate food (those with a high glycemic index) may, in fact, be associated with the development of acne. Interest in investigating the link between acne and diet was first renewed when epidemiological studies showed that cultures with a low carbohydrate diet (i.e. no candy, sodas) had a very low incidence of acne.