 What hormone
causes acne ?
Prevalence
Many hormones
are simultaneously at work in human body and there are no
two opinions about what hormone causes acne. It is
unanimously agreed that ‘Testosterone’ belonging to the
group of male hormones, known as androgens’ is the main
causative hormone for the development of acne. Acne is
the most prolific skin disease; more a matter of
aesthetic value rather than a serious physical
disease.
Since it is
more prevalent among adolescents, it becomes a real
nuisance for the raw and only too sensitive minds and may
at times built complexes in their personalities. Next
only to the adolescents, occurrence of acne has been
mostly observed in young females, especially during their
routine menstrual cycle, providing them an extra pleasure
while they are already under
stress.
The male and female
hormones
Hormones are
not some living beings to be identified by their sex.
They are, instead, chemicals that perform an important
function of conveying message from one to the other part
of a cell within it , or do so in the exterior of the
cells. At times they convey the messages through entering
into blood stream.
It is on the basis of the
characteristics they impart, that they are classified as
male or female hormones. Androgens are a
group of male hormones and testosterone, produced by
testes, is the most important member of the group. Its
production and presence is not exclusive to males but to
a lesser extent testosterone is also produced by and
present in females.
Functionality of
testosterone
During
puberty, testosterone plays a vital role in the growth of
hair in armpits and genitalia. It is also responsible in
the change of voice and muscular structure in males to
transform them from a boy to a man. One function of
testosterone is to produce hair oil; sebum, to keep the
skin smooth and hair shiny. During puberty the
testosterone is converted into a more active form, hence
production of sebum is increased quite notably above the
norms. This oil is prone to lysis; splitting of fat when
attacked by Propionibacterium
acne.
Role of the female
hormones
Estrogen and
progesterone are the female hormones or better to say are
the hormones that promote female characteristics. In
addition to estrogen, testosterone too is present in
females in lesser quantity and that too is converted to
the female hormones over a period of time. Occasionally
this does not happen as during the menstrual cycle and
the testosterone quantity exceeds normal, causing
abnormal growth of hair on face or other body parts of
female. It may also cause some other male characteristics
to females like coarse voice, or suppressed development
of some typical female physical characteristics by
suppressing the quantity of estrogen.
What hormone causes
acne?
Hormones cause
acne and it is hormones that are considered the best
treatment too for acne. Catch is that they cause acne
when in a state of disbalance and they cure acne when
they resume balance that is more of testosterone in male
and less of that in females.
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