A new study published in the Journal of Women’s Health and conducted by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital has found that forty five per cent of women in the U.S. aged between twenty-one and thirty years old suffer from clinical acne.
The percentage of adult women with active acne was seen to decrease with age, although just over a quarter of women aged between thirty-one and forty were still suffering from acne-prone skin.
Hormones are often in part responsible for causing acne breakouts as they directly affect the amount of sebum produced by the skin. Over stimulated sebum glands result in blocked pores, and when combined with proliferating bacteria the mixture of dead skin cells and sebum, trapped under the skin, can cause red, sore spots to appear.
Changes to hormones can be caused by various things including diet and stress, as well as the natural fluctuations during pregnancy or menstruation. The skin can be directly affected by these changes, and for some, that means acne.
Acne in adult women would appear to be on the rise in the U.K. too, with more and more women developing the skin condition in adulthood even if they have not had a problem before.
