Acne affects about 80 percent of Americans at some point in their lives, whether its common outbreaks during the awkward teenage years or just the occasional pimple. But why do some people struggle with acne for decades and others barely ever see a blemish? The Washington University School of Medicine has completed a study that might explain the reason why some people get pimples and others don't.
The findings, in partnership with the University of California Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, show that there are "bad" strains of acne bacteria that can cause pimples and "good" strains that may protect skin.
“We hope to apply our findings to develop new strategies that stop blemishes before they start and enable dermatologists to customize treatment to each patient’s unique cocktail of skin bacteria,” explained Huiying Li, an assistant professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, in a press release.
Researchers hope that increasing the body's "good" strains of acne bacteria using creams or lotions may help clear complexions. Additional studies will focus on new drugs that kill the bad strains of acne while preserving the good ones, using viruses to kill acne-related bacteria, and developing a skin test to predict whether or not a person will suffer from aggressive acne.
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