Acne or acne vulgaris is a skin disease. The symptoms are pimples, whiteheads and oily skin. There could be scarring. Acne is caused when the hair follicles in your skin get clogged due to excessive oil secreted by the sebum glands and dead skin cells. Dust, dirt and sweat make matters worse.

Acne is a long term condition. The symptoms are often short-lived but there can be traces such as scars or spots and acne can recur. It is estimated that genetics is the primary cause of the skin disease for as many as eight out of ten people who have the problem. As common as it is, not everyone develops acne and some people never have it. There are many facilitating factors that can cause or worsen acne but it is not limited to gender.

[Link: How To Fade Acne Scars]

Current Acne Treatments

Till now, remedies for acne have been limited to medications, changes in diet and lifestyle, avoiding certain kinds of exposure to contain the outbreak and some medical procedures. There are topical treatments that can be applied on skin. Also consider pills and natural alternatives. While some remedies in traditional medicine do offer relief, for howsoever short a span of time, there has been no known cure for acne.

It is only in the realm of alternative medicine which is mostly about natural or herbal extracts that one can find some respite. Fortunately, if everything goes as expected then people may be able to opt for a vaccine that scientists have already created to cure acne.

How Likely Are You To Get Acne

Acne affects over seven hundred million people around the world. This is almost one tenth of the human population on the planet. Acne is the eighth most common ailment for our species. Almost nine out of every ten teens in western countries have acne.

This is why acne has become associated with adolescence. In reality, acne can happen to anyone regardless of age. This is because in addition to hormonal factors, the role of the sebum glands and the influence of lifestyle, diet and general health including cleanliness, a particular bacteria causes and facilitates acne. The same bacteria also prevents various treatments from working. It is also the bacteria that leads to recurrence of acne time and again throughout the life for some people.

Understanding The Cause Of Acne

A vaccine would be irrelevant if acne did not have any microbial causal factor. So, one can be unhappy since a bacteria is at play or hopeful that there can now finally be a cure for acne. The bacteria responsible for causing acne is called Propionibacteria acnes.

Like many other bacteria, viruses and fungi, this one too lives in the human body, actually on our skin, but does not impair any of our normal functions till acne develops and it causes the bumps to turn redder and flare up. The bacteria is otherwise harmless, which is perhaps why it has taken us many years to truly understand its correlation and impact on acne.

Scientists have known about this bacteria for a while now and have been trying to develop a vaccine. One is finally ready and it has shown positive impact on countering Propionibacteria acnes.

The Vaccine That Could Change Everything

The study tested a vaccine that targets the bacteria specifically. The vaccine prevents the bacteria from producing more toxins that are usually the cause of the inflammation. The vaccine then helps the immune system of our body to combat and eliminate the bacteria.

With the bacteria eliminated from the human skin, it cannot cause or facilitate, worsen or lead to a recurrence of acne and any of its symptoms. It is possible the elimination of the bacteria will also reduce scarring and may even make acne untraceable after the pimples have subsided. The vaccine can be a game changer if it is approved.

Vaccine Test Findings

The vaccine was tested on human skin and mice at a lab in the University of California in San Diego. The vaccine did trigger the natural immune system to send antibodies that can fight the bacteria. The inflammations did reduce. The swelling reduced and the skin looked much more normal. The bacteria could not add more toxins to worsen the inflammation and hence the outbreak was contained. The acne on samples of human skin was contained, the swelling was much less and then the symptoms subsided to a large extent.

The Future Of Acne Vaccines

The development of this vaccine and if it is approved sometime soon can have ramifications for hundreds of millions of people around the world. Acne is not just a temporary health issue for teenagers, adolescents and young adults.

The scars it leaves behind can last a lifetime. Acne affects self esteem. Many people suffer from depression and some have suicidal thoughts. With more than eight in ten kids and over forty million adults in America vulnerable to acne and actually suffering from it, the vaccine is one of the first things we need and the sooner it is, the better but of course after due process of approval to ascertain its safety.