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11/14/04
11/14/04

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Christopher

Christopher

Portland, OR
November 2002

NOV 13, 2004 05:55 PM

Dr. Terence Kealey from the University of Buckingham may have found a reason how and why acne develops. She found that that two distinct chemicals are present during puberty that creates two different types of acne: one gives the standard whitehead or blackhead, the other chemical ruins your life by giving you a pustule that makes people not want to have sex with you.

What causes these immune chemicals to become active in the first place? That’s the responsibility of bacterium — Propionibacterium acnes — which feeds on the sebum, an oily secretion in the hair follicles. Proteins on its coat are detected by the immune system, which then mount a defensive response.

Dr Kealey found out what was going on by using skin cells taken from women who were having plastic surgery. “Animals don’t get acne so we had to use human skin cells. Face-lifts provided a good supply that allowed us to grow skin in a test tube,” he says. Left alone, the cells produced normal smooth skin. The big discovery was that to produce full-blown acne you just add one of the two immune-system chemicals.

“If we added one called IL-1A you got perfect whiteheads or blackheads,” he says. “If you added another one, TGFA, you got the inflamed pustules. Each works in different ways. One causes the wall of the hair follicle to shed cells much faster, while the other makes the follicle grow oddly so it bursts.” Already there are drugs that can block IL-1A or TGFA, which might be suitable to treat acne.

Dr. Kealey believes that because we are the only animal to have acne, it may be an evolutionary adaptation that tells others to not have sex with you as you are too young to have babies.

"It’s still a theory,” Dr Kealey says. “But another distinctive human trait is that we have a much longer period of childhood than any other animal because we have to learn a whole range of social and language skills to fit into the group. Having babies before you’ve got those under your belt could make it less likely your children would survive.” So spots are a cunning way of putting off potential lovers and, therefore, avoiding having children at too young an age. This is because we are hard-wired to fancy only healthy people and spots give people the appearance of illness despite there being none.

Or you could get acne because God hates you, no one loves you, and you eat too much chocolate.

_Sarah_

_Sarah_

Kalamazoo, MI
January 2003

NOV 13, 2004 11:13 PM

That was a very interesting article. I figured excessive acne was due to the simple overproduction of oil on the skin during puberty, but I didn't know WHY the oil kicked up.

It's funny that we all worried about it so much, even though about 80% of our peers had the same problem.

troglodyte

troglodyte

Victoria, BC
May 2003

NOV 13, 2004 11:13 PM

So, i'm *still* too young? frown

Attack_Macaque

Attack_Macaque

Mesquite, TX
September 2004

NOV 13, 2004 11:13 PM


Dr. Kealey believes that because we are the only animal to have acne, it may be an evolutionary adaptation that tells others to not have sex with you as you are too young to have babies.



I offer as anecdotal support for Dr. Kealey's theory, my teenage years...

frown

troglodyte

troglodyte

Victoria, BC
May 2003

NOV 13, 2004 11:14 PM

Sorcha said:
That was a very interesting article. I figured excessive acne was due to the simple overproduction of oil on the skin during puberty, but I didn't know WHY the oil kicked up.

It's funny that we all worried about it so much, even though about 80% of our peers had the same problem.


Past tense? frown

Franklin

Franklin

I'm lost
October 2003

NOV 13, 2004 11:21 PM

troglodyte said:

Sorcha said:
That was a very interesting article. I figured excessive acne was due to the simple overproduction of oil on the skin during puberty, but I didn't know WHY the oil kicked up.

It's funny that we all worried about it so much, even though about 80% of our peers had the same problem.


Past tense? frown



Ditto on the sadness that for you, it's past tense. frown

llouys

llouys

Brazil
August 2003

NOV 13, 2004 11:32 PM

“Animals don’t get acne so we had to use human skin cells. Face-lifts provided a good supply that allowed us to grow skin in a test tube,”



i will never sleep again.

surreal

akl

akl

Sacramento, CA
February 2004

NOV 13, 2004 11:43 PM

this doesnt really seem to stack up for me considering all of the things you can do to prevent acne (ie: dietary changes) and how throughout life people who excercised and ate right even in their teen years have been by all accounts relatively acne free

robosagogo

robosagogo

State College, PA
September 2004

NOV 13, 2004 11:51 PM

ahdahm said:
this doesnt really seem to stack up for me considering all of the things you can do to prevent acne (ie: dietary changes) and how throughout life people who excercised and ate right even in their teen years have been by all accounts relatively acne free



Fuck people telling me to exercise and eat right. Tell me a god to sacrifice a goat to. Something I can actually do!

wolfwood

wolfwood

Madison, WI
March 2003

NOV 13, 2004 11:54 PM

My mom's in her 50s and she still gets acne, is she not supposed to have sex yet?

swingkitten

swingkitten

Portland, OR
OLD SKOOL

NOV 14, 2004 12:02 AM

troglodyte said:
So, i'm *still* too young? frown



You are not the only one frown

_Sarah_

_Sarah_

Kalamazoo, MI
January 2003

NOV 14, 2004 12:05 AM

troglodyte said:

Sorcha said:
That was a very interesting article. I figured excessive acne was due to the simple overproduction of oil on the skin during puberty, but I didn't know WHY the oil kicked up.

It's funny that we all worried about it so much, even though about 80% of our peers had the same problem.


Past tense? frown


Oh, I still get it (and it really, really annoys) me, but it's not as bad as it was when I was 14. *shudder*

Yuriel

Yuriel

I'm lost
January 2004

NOV 14, 2004 01:31 AM

god just hates me.
EL SUICIDO LOCO

swingkitten

swingkitten

Portland, OR
OLD SKOOL

NOV 14, 2004 01:53 AM

Sorcha said:

troglodyte said:

Sorcha said:
That was a very interesting article. I figured excessive acne was due to the simple overproduction of oil on the skin during puberty, but I didn't know WHY the oil kicked up.

It's funny that we all worried about it so much, even though about 80% of our peers had the same problem.


Past tense? frown


Oh, I still get it (and it really, really annoys) me, but it's not as bad as it was when I was 14. *shudder*



See, that's not fair. In my family, we don't get acne until we're at least 18, and then it gets horribly, horribly bad.
If the theory mentioned above is correct, maybe it means I was in my peak reproductive years from age 9-17. Eeeeew.

turin

turin

Denver, CO
October 2003

NOV 14, 2004 01:58 AM

ahdahm said:
this doesnt really seem to stack up for me considering all of the things you can do to prevent acne (ie: dietary changes) and how throughout life people who excercised and ate right even in their teen years have been by all accounts relatively acne free



no. this is clearly coming from someone who had an easy life as a teen. good for you. some acne, dermatologists are helpess against



edit: lost a vowel somewhere...

[Edited on Nov 14, 2004 by Turin]

handle

handle

I'm lost
July 2003

NOV 14, 2004 02:30 AM

I've never had bad skin, so I guess I've always been prime mating material... that or I haven't hit puberty yet confused

[Edited on Nov 14, 2004 by ______]

lastpenguin

lastpenguin

I'm lost
June 2003

NOV 14, 2004 02:32 AM

I'm sceptical about this. Seems like a very big leap based on the evidence. Alot of people get acne when they're already biologically able to have children. I'm not sure if his "social and language skills" argument holds water if you start to consider the lengths of time involved. We're talking tens of thousands of years at the very least. Were social skills really that important at that stage?

I think this link is tenuous at best

KhayotiK

KhayotiK

Fallon, NV
October 2004

NOV 14, 2004 02:52 AM

wolfwood said:
My mom's in her 50s and she still gets acne, is she not supposed to have sex yet?




My mom's in her 40s and has the same problem. If she doesn't exfoliate and moisturize (sp?) twice a week, she ends up wearing more makeup than me.

Idjit

Idjit

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

NOV 14, 2004 04:31 AM

filterboy said:
I'm sceptical about this. Seems like a very big leap based on the evidence. Alot of people get acne when they're already biologically able to have children.



Yeah, I agree. And then there's also the fact that both men and women get it.

Waldo_Jeffers

Waldo_Jeffers

United Kingdom
OLD SKOOL

NOV 14, 2004 06:40 AM

robosagogo said:

ahdahm said:
this doesnt really seem to stack up for me considering all of the things you can do to prevent acne (ie: dietary changes) and how throughout life people who excercised and ate right even in their teen years have been by all accounts relatively acne free



Fuck people telling me to exercise and eat right. Tell me a god to sacrifice a goat to. Something I can actually do!



Hahahah!! biggrin That's hilarious!!

MetaTag

MetaTag

United Kingdom
September 2002

NOV 14, 2004 08:08 AM

Given that acne stops sex in the young, will the Christian right wing try to prevent treatment of the condition?

Hati

Hati

Los Angeles, CA
December 2003

NOV 14, 2004 08:16 AM

So you're saying that if a young girl doesn't have acne she's fair game? She' reday for kids? Ready for sex? We've got to get this through to Congress!

clara

clara

MODERATOR

Baltimore, MD

NOV 14, 2004 08:32 AM

Something like 80% of adults still get acne at least occasionally. So there's that to consider.

Miel

Miel

Goleta, CA
October 2004

NOV 14, 2004 08:45 AM

And you think, “God, I want to get off on some of these people. I better look my best.” And then Mother Nature says, “No, you will look the worst you’ve ever looked in your life!” *blows raspberry* - Eddie Izzard.

wakeangel

wakeangel

Beaverton, OR
October 2003

NOV 14, 2004 09:00 AM

it is an interesting theory, no doubt about it. i still get it, i think God hates me. but the theory could hold true even if you get a few anomolies. personaly i think the good doctor is reaching. i get it worse in times of stress or when i consistantly eat crappy food. i get it on my back if i wear a shirt couple of times without washing it. or on my forehead from wearing a hat.

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