Browse: Home / Insulin / Acne unplugged – the biology behind those pimple eruptions

Menu

Skip to content
  • About
  • Better Body Chemistry School
  • Book a health conversation
  • Speaking query
  • The “Big” Spoons
  • Donate
Header image

BBC

Small things can make a big difference to your health

advertisement

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • START HERE
  • Free Resources
    • 31 days to Better Body Chemistry
    • Willpower Report
    • Better Body Chemistry for Expecting Moms
    • The ups and downs of insulin resistance
    • Candy Floss Boards
  • Meet the Team
  • Library
  • Lucky dip
  • Better Body Chemistry TV
    • Video gallery for Expecting Moms
    • Video gallery for people with metabolic syndrome
    • Video gallery of how to survive flu season
  • Sound bites
  • Contact

Acne unplugged – the biology behind those pimple eruptions

Posted by Dr Sandy on in Insulin | 5498 Views | 1 Response

<
Share Button

Click on the link to download the audio of “Acne unplugged – the biology behind those pimple eruptions”

Transcript of “Acne unplugged – the biology behind those pimple eruptions”

insulin scraping the poolIn the Western world, acne is estimated to affect 75-95 % of the adolescent population, 40 – 54 % of individual older than 25 years, and 12 % of women and 3 % of men of middle age.

So what is going on ?

Throwing a pool party

How do you wake up one morning with a giant pimple on your nose ?

Simple, YOU NEED TO THROW A POOL PARTY.

Not that kind of pool. The kind of pool you find on your skin. This is what the pores look like normally. Not too appealing.

But….. under the “right” circumstances, the pool fills ups and becomes a happening place.

You are invited….

The story begins when insulin arrives. Now you might be wondering, what is insulin is doing in skin pores. To be honest, insulin is not all that sure either. Blood insulin levels rise when you develop insulin resistance and it is this, that allows insulin to pop into the pores of your skin

Now insulin’s main job is actually to store nutrients…. insulin is a hormone that makes you fat ! A little confused, the insulin summons one of its side kicks, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). IGF-1 is a mitogen, which means it causes tissues to grow in general and skin cells are no exception.

Too much of a good thing

So the more insulin that is around, the more the skin grows – this sounds good in principle but, the trouble that extra growth, can potentially block the sebaceous follicles. Blocked sebaceous follicles are step 1 in pimple formation. The sebum does not leave, the way it is supposed to.

A great party needs some muscle

Insulin and IGF-1 invite some heavy weights to the pool. nsulin does this by encouraging the ovary (in women) and testes (in men) to make more male hormone, so there is a lot more around.

But, in addition, escalating production, insulin also stops the production of sex hormone binding globulin by the liver. This interferes with the movement sex hormones about the body.

The combined result is skin pore is awash with androgens.

So step 2 in pimple formation has kicked in – extra male hormones mean more skin oil or sebum.

It doesn’t take too long …………to fill up the pool.

All it takes is a bacteria trying to cool off

Propionoibacterium acnes can’t resist the oil pools. It pops in for a quick dip and soon there is a pool party going on with hundreds of bacteria splashing about.

PARTY ! PARTY !

Shutting down the party

The neighbours complain and call the police to shut down the party.

But the bacteria don’t go quietly, so the immune system needs to use force. In the process, things turn red hot and ugly. The end result a huge bright red carbuncle, which is not only horrific to look at but damn sore too.

The pool party is eventually shut down. The force of the intervention though leaves lots of little bodies in its wake and so, the pimple changes from a red hot fiery mountain, to yellow wasteland, filled with pus.

So if you don’t want to look like a spotty ogre – you need to prevent the pool party from happening.

So how would you stop a pool party ?

Well one strategy would be to make sure no one gets near the pool – this is the thinking behind scrubbing your face regularly. Keeping everything squeaky clean, so the bacteria can’t get near the pool, should limit the number of pool parties that happen.

And using an antiseptic soap, can make this strategy even more effective.

When the force is with you

Sometimes this idea is taken one step further and a little bit more force is applied.

Anyone who looks suspicious and might stop by the pool for a swim, is exterminated. Swallowing antibiotics or using creams which contain antibiotics, pretty much work this way. The antibiotic kills every bacteria in sight, so there is no one around, the pools are absolutely deserted. But other body parts may also end up deserted in the process, which can lead to more troubles further down the line.

Draining the pool

The second strategy is to drain the pool i.e. remove all the oil. This is the thinking behind most of the products that treat acne on the market today, including the infamous Roaccutane®.

A final strategy is to stop excess oil production in the first place, by targeting those hormone imbalances. Therapies usually focus on getting the sex hormones balanced, because too much male hormone or androgens, is causing the oil wells to run. This is what oral contraceptives do when they are prescribed to treat acne.

Let’s just remember how this ALL STARTED.

Too much insulin.

To avoid spots without spending a fortune

So to avoid spots without spending a fortune, this is the guy you need to rein in. And it’s easy to do, insulin levels correspond to what you are eating.

So if you can rein in the insulin, you don’t need expensive soaps, ordinary soap and water will keep the levels of the Propionibacterium acnes levels low. The few that manages to stop by, won’t want to stay because the pools will be empty.

Beating pimples, begins with Better Body Chemistry.

Share Button

Further reading

security interupting the pool party acne bacteria enjoying the pool party what causes sinus
How to avoid spots without spending a fortune Acne happens when a wild pool party is curtailed by security The dirt behind sinusitis
Share Button

Interested in learning more about the chemistry

Subscribe to E-spoons, to get e-mail updates once a month to learn how to keep your body chemistry balanced.

View previous E-spoons.

Close

NOTE : Privacy & spam policy. Spoonful of Science will not rent, trade or sell the e-mail list to anyone. You can unsubscribe at any time by following the unsubscribe link.

Posted in Insulin | Tagged acne, pimples

Sugar gremlins are REAL

Connect with us

facebook you tube pinterest 40 google plus 40 Linkedin

willpower report
 
Got a sugar gremlin ?yellow trick or treat your sugar gremlin
Read more.....
* indicates required
Close
  • Popular
  • Featured
  • Recent
  • oatmeal breakfast being beaten by egg

    Which is a better breakfast, egg or oatmeal ?

    16548 views / Posted
  • chewing gum relieving postoperative ileus

    A stick of chewing gum gets the gut going after surgery

    16022 views / Posted
  • poop getting stuck

    The fix for constipation is to go on a low fibre diet

    15344 views / Posted
  • carbonated water bubbles fill you up

    Fizzing up the water flattens your appetite

    14067 views / Posted
  • a see food diet

    It might be time to try the TRF see food diet – it works

    11443 views / Posted
  • sun extracting cholesterol

    Make sure you have your “annual” check-up in the summer time

    / Dr Sandy
  • sending your kid to bootcamp won't stop childhood obesity

    Moving more won’t stop your kid from getting fat

    / Dr Sandy
  • cholesterol at the scene of the accident

    Bone cells are stiffening up your arteries not cholesterol

    / Dr Sandy
  • brain size the problem in ADHD

    Are kids with ADHD just acting according to their brain age

    / Dr Sandy
  • plastering the blood vessel with calcium

    Calcium supplements are building bones and breaking hearts

    / Dr Sandy
  • vitamin D conservation plan

    Deploy a vitamin D conservation plan this winter

    / Dr Sandy
  • killer cookies

    How to avoid wearing edible Christmas gifts on your hips

    / Dr Sandy
  • eye putttin gpressure on the stomach

    Maybe it’s time to invest in appetite suppressing glasses

    / Dr Sandy
  • pgc1alpha

    Mitochondria in insulin resistance

    / Dr Sandy
  • a low fat diet spiking blood fat levels

    The more saturated fat you eat, the lower your blood fat levels

    / Dr Sandy

RSS Recent posts

Dr Sandy Dr Sandy Evans, PhD

Located in Johannesburg, South Africa

Book an appointment with Spoonful of Science using SetMore
Disclaimer : The stories and articles are provided as a service. Dr Sandy's opinions are for information only, and are not intended to diagnose or prescribe. For your specific diagnosis and treatment, consult your doctor or health care provider.
 
 

Connect with Dr Sandy

facebook 40
you tube 40
pinterest 40
google plus 40
linkedin 40
meetup 40
 

Categories

Featured posts

  • oatmeal breakfast being beaten by egg

    Which is a better breakfast, egg or oatmeal ?

    16548 views / Posted
  • chewing gum relieving postoperative ileus

    A stick of chewing gum gets the gut going after surgery

    16022 views / Posted
  • poop getting stuck

    The fix for constipation is to go on a low fibre diet

    15344 views / Posted
 

©2011-2019 Spoonful of Science

Menu

  • Meet Dr Sandy
  • Disclosure/disclaimer
  • Privacy policy
  • Comment policy
  • Contact
Redirect Stakk
Thank You

Beat your SUGAR CRAVINGS, using biology, NOT psychology

Download our FREE REPORT entitled, "How to get the Willpower you Need to Trump Sugar's Power"

  • Do you have a sugar gremlin ?
  • Discover the biology behind sugar gremlins
  • Learn about the 10 weapons you can use to TAME YOUR SUGAR GREMLIN

Get instant access